This week, the last door slammed shut on Iraqi refugees desperate to flee for their lives. Syria, which had kept its border open long after Jordan and other neighbors had closed theirs to all but a lucky few, has now also imposed a strict visa regime for Iraqis, and the latest reports from the border indicate that the refugee flow has stopped.
US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit to Damascus this week caused quite a stir. Before she even landed in Syria, the White House was calling her decision a "really bad idea." Pelosi's spokesman was quick to defend the visit by saying that the speaker intended to use her trip "to discuss a wide range of security issues affecting the United States and the Middle East." No one doubts that security is essential in the region. But Pelosi appears to have committed the same mistake as other recent visitors to Damascus, who decided not to raise the issue of Syria's appalling human rights record.
The UK has studiously ignored nearly 2m refugees escaping violence and persecution, perhaps because recognising their existence would be an admission that the adventure in Iraq did not go as planned.
When Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, visits president Bashar al-Assad of Syria this week, it will effectively end the EU freeze on high-level contacts with Damascus. On the agenda? Lebanon and Middle East peace. Important topics indeed. But Solana should not leave Damascus without raising the issue of Syria's dreadful human rights record.
If the Prime Minister has refused to apologise for invading Iraq, he should at least accept responsibility for its consequences. Two million Iraqis have fled the violence unleashed by the invasion and occupation. And as the violence escalates, so does the exodus.
This week, the last door slammed shut on Iraqi refugees desperate to flee for their lives. Syria, which had kept its border open long after Jordan and other neighbors had closed theirs to all but a lucky few, has now also imposed a strict visa regime for Iraqis, and the latest reports from the border indicate that the refugee flow has stopped.
US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's visit to Damascus this week caused quite a stir. Before she even landed in Syria, the White House was calling her decision a "really bad idea." Pelosi's spokesman was quick to defend the visit by saying that the speaker intended to use her trip "to discuss a wide range of security issues affecting the United States and the Middle East." No one doubts that security is essential in the region. But Pelosi appears to have committed the same mistake as other recent visitors to Damascus, who decided not to raise the issue of Syria's appalling human rights record.
The UK has studiously ignored nearly 2m refugees escaping violence and persecution, perhaps because recognising their existence would be an admission that the adventure in Iraq did not go as planned.
When Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, visits president Bashar al-Assad of Syria this week, it will effectively end the EU freeze on high-level contacts with Damascus. On the agenda? Lebanon and Middle East peace. Important topics indeed. But Solana should not leave Damascus without raising the issue of Syria's dreadful human rights record.
If the Prime Minister has refused to apologise for invading Iraq, he should at least accept responsibility for its consequences. Two million Iraqis have fled the violence unleashed by the invasion and occupation. And as the violence escalates, so does the exodus.