US admissions of Iraqi refugees fall far short of Bush administration goal
January 03, 2008|Matthew Lee, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - US admissions of Iraqi refugees are nose-diving amid bureaucratic in-fighting despite the Bush administration's pledge to boost them to roughly 1,000 per month, according to State Department statistics obtained by the Associated Press.
For the third straight month since the United States said it would improve processing and resettle 12,000 Iraqis by the end of the current budget year on Sept. 30, the number admitted has slid, the figures show.
The steady decline - from 450 in October to 362 in November and 245 in December - means the administration will have to allow in 10,943 Iraqis over the next nine months, or roughly 1,215 per month, to meet the target it has set for itself.
US admissions of Iraqi refugees fall far short of Bush administration goal - Boston.com
Two Bowling Green residents indicted on federal terrorism charges
By Bill Estep [email protected]
Posted: 1:53pm on May 31, 2011; Modified: 10:12pm on May 31, 2011
In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, an Iraqi living as a refugee in Bowling Green, Ky., is shown. Hammadi and thirty-year-old Waad Ramadan Alwan, another Iraqi refugee, tried to send sniper rifles, Stinger missiles and money to al-Qaida operatives in their home country, and both boasted of using improvised explosives against American troops there before moving to the U.S., according to court documents unsealed Tuesday, May 31, 2011. The men were arrested after an investigation that began months after they arrived in the U.S. in 2009. Neither is charged with plotting attacks within the United States, and authorities said their weapons and money didn't make it to Iraq because of a tightly controlled undercover investigation. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshals Service via The Courier-Journal) APBuy Photo
Story Photos
Two Iraqi refugees living in Bowling Green schemed to ship sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, explosives and money to their home country to be used in attacks on U.S. troops, a federal grand jury has charged.
One of the men, Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, also was charged with conspiring to kill U.S. troops in Iraq before he came to the United States.
Weapons the two transported from Bowling Green didn't actually make it into the hands of al-Qaida members in Iraq because the shipments were part of an undercover investigation of the men by the FBI.
However, Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, thought they were working with a middleman to funnel supplies and cash to terrorists in Iraq, authorities said.
"With these arrests, which are the culmination of extraordinary investigative work by law enforcement and intelligence officials, the support provided by these individuals comes to an end, and they will face justice," Todd Hinnen, acting attorney general for national security, said in a statement.
The two are not accused of planning attacks on targets inside the United States.
The FBI arrested Alwan and Hammadi on May 25, but the case was sealed until after the two made their initial appearance in federal court in Louisville on Tuesday. They pleaded not guilty.
Their attorneys declined comment on the case after the hearing, according to The Associated Press.
Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said the investigation was continuing.
"If the investigation suggests others are involved, we will pursue those investigative leads," Boyd said.
Alwan and Hammadi could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
According to information released by federal officials, both men came to the United States after being granted refugee status.
Alwan moved from Iraq to Bowling Green in April 2009. Hammadi moved from Iraq to Las Vegas in July 2009, then moved to Bowling Green
Two Bowling Green residents indicted on federal terrorism charges | Public Safety | Kentucky.com
January 03, 2008|Matthew Lee, Associated Press
WASHINGTON - US admissions of Iraqi refugees are nose-diving amid bureaucratic in-fighting despite the Bush administration's pledge to boost them to roughly 1,000 per month, according to State Department statistics obtained by the Associated Press.
For the third straight month since the United States said it would improve processing and resettle 12,000 Iraqis by the end of the current budget year on Sept. 30, the number admitted has slid, the figures show.
The steady decline - from 450 in October to 362 in November and 245 in December - means the administration will have to allow in 10,943 Iraqis over the next nine months, or roughly 1,215 per month, to meet the target it has set for itself.
US admissions of Iraqi refugees fall far short of Bush administration goal - Boston.com
Two Bowling Green residents indicted on federal terrorism charges
By Bill Estep [email protected]
Posted: 1:53pm on May 31, 2011; Modified: 10:12pm on May 31, 2011
In this undated photo provided by the U.S. Marshals Service, Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, an Iraqi living as a refugee in Bowling Green, Ky., is shown. Hammadi and thirty-year-old Waad Ramadan Alwan, another Iraqi refugee, tried to send sniper rifles, Stinger missiles and money to al-Qaida operatives in their home country, and both boasted of using improvised explosives against American troops there before moving to the U.S., according to court documents unsealed Tuesday, May 31, 2011. The men were arrested after an investigation that began months after they arrived in the U.S. in 2009. Neither is charged with plotting attacks within the United States, and authorities said their weapons and money didn't make it to Iraq because of a tightly controlled undercover investigation. (AP Photo/U.S. Marshals Service via The Courier-Journal) APBuy Photo
Story Photos
Two Iraqi refugees living in Bowling Green schemed to ship sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, explosives and money to their home country to be used in attacks on U.S. troops, a federal grand jury has charged.
One of the men, Waad Ramadan Alwan, 30, also was charged with conspiring to kill U.S. troops in Iraq before he came to the United States.
Weapons the two transported from Bowling Green didn't actually make it into the hands of al-Qaida members in Iraq because the shipments were part of an undercover investigation of the men by the FBI.
However, Alwan, 30, and Mohanad Shareef Hammadi, 23, thought they were working with a middleman to funnel supplies and cash to terrorists in Iraq, authorities said.
"With these arrests, which are the culmination of extraordinary investigative work by law enforcement and intelligence officials, the support provided by these individuals comes to an end, and they will face justice," Todd Hinnen, acting attorney general for national security, said in a statement.
The two are not accused of planning attacks on targets inside the United States.
The FBI arrested Alwan and Hammadi on May 25, but the case was sealed until after the two made their initial appearance in federal court in Louisville on Tuesday. They pleaded not guilty.
Their attorneys declined comment on the case after the hearing, according to The Associated Press.
Dean Boyd, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of Justice, said the investigation was continuing.
"If the investigation suggests others are involved, we will pursue those investigative leads," Boyd said.
Alwan and Hammadi could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
According to information released by federal officials, both men came to the United States after being granted refugee status.
Alwan moved from Iraq to Bowling Green in April 2009. Hammadi moved from Iraq to Las Vegas in July 2009, then moved to Bowling Green
Two Bowling Green residents indicted on federal terrorism charges | Public Safety | Kentucky.com
