After the headline, “Vet: Dangers of Syrian Refugees! …Stop and Read This Right Now!!!!!,” Christopher Allard, an active-duty U.S. Army medic, declares:
(Western Asians) shoot mortars or rockets at their own children…The overwhelming majority of the kids… (90% or better) were clear cases of abuse. These parents were literally dunking their kids in boiling water, or throwing hot chai at their kids’ faces... HUNDREDS of kids... …(K)ids… were sexually abused... Their parents acted (as) if nothing was wrong with this… ...mentality of their society. Many … educated, well dressed, well-spoken men … raped their own children, and kept chai boys. All … (weapons) came from one place, Syria. Almost every single IED or EFP we found or hit could be traced back to Syria... They stone these women to death for being raped! They behead their own people. Do you think they will show mercy to you? Look at the rape statistics in Denmark, Sweden, Belgium... 97% of rapes committed in Sweden were committed by Muslim immigrants... And you want 10,000 of these people here?
This disgusting, deplorable, bigoted, xenophobic diatribe is intended to generate apprehension and fear in its readers.
Most Syrians, just like most residents of other nations, are gracious, admirable people. I have been invited to dinner by Syrians. These superb hosts provided a delectable meal and pleasant conversation for their guests.
The backgrounds of Syrian refugees who apply to enter the United States are investigated by Homeland Security and the FBI for an average of 18–24 months, but may require a much longer period of verification before they are permitted to enter the USA. Among the refugees are numerous women, children and aged.
Tears well in my eyes as I witness the relief experienced by the refugees who fortunately escaped death on the sea to receive succor in Lesbos, a Greek island in the northern Aegean Sea proximate to Turkey.
The Syrian refugees are of minor risk to the disruption of our peace. Stephen Legomsky, a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis and former chief counsel for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services affirmed, “No competent terrorist would choose the U.S. refugee process as a preferred strategy for gaining entry into the U.S.”
Indeed, the vast majority of terrorism in the United States has been committed by white male Americans.
To refuse refugees from Syria would actualize the wishes of the Daesh terrorists. They desire for Syrians and others to regard the USA as their enemy. Absence of compassion for refugees by Americans would facilitate and support the arguments of the Daesh. Moreover, displaced people from Western Asia who are refused refuge are easily radicalized.
The USA has agreed to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees, which is solely .00003125 of our 320 million population. I believe we should accept at least 60,000 of them. Germany, whose population is much less substantial than ours, may be willing to accept as many as 800,000 Syrian refugees.
Fear needs to be replaced with compassion. Many of those who wish to arrest the arrival of Syrian refugees into our country have claimed to be Christians. This infidel (the author) reminds them of scripture. "Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me" (Matthew 25: 40). Also, recall the parable of the Good Samaritan.
Inscribed on our Statue of Liberty is this: "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
We will see how many of those who are Christians in word, are Christians in deed.
[I hope that I have not deviated too much from protocol in this, my first story (diary)].