To Be a Friend Is Fatal
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HELO playlist of, 179, 255
home in West Chicago, 12–13, 14, 101–3, 111–31
IDU and, 51–53, 67, 76, 185, 258
injuries of 2005, treatment, and recovery, 1–2, 97–103, 111, 113–31, 175, 190, 242, 246, 304–5
insurgency fantasy of, 127–29
Iraqi workers, relationship with, 42–43, 48
Iraq War, decision to go to, 21
journalists’ interest in refugees and, 190–91
Kennedy and, 192–94
Kirkuk visit and MOAG, 59–60
law school and, 37, 132, 153–54, 158, 171, 174, 182, 204, 205
list created by, 174, 175, 179
as List Project director, 224, 228–29, 235, 245, 260–62
M240G machine gun practice, 80–81
medical bills, 127, 130
mother and, 17, 18, 40–41, 93, 95, 116, 124, 126, 154
motivations of, 68–69, 76, 89, 93, 166, 167, 171, 305
Negroponte meeting with, 235
New York Times interview, 169
as New York Times Middle East bureau intern, 20, 21
NSA recruitment, 20
Nugent and, 200–201, 203–5, 255, 257
Obama and, 250–51
op-ed piece for Los Angeles Times, 167–69, 229, 302
op-ed piece for New York Times, 281–82
op-ed piece for Washington Post, 279
Packer and, 186–87, 250
as persona non grata, 186, 301
piano/organ playing, 56, 118
pleas for help emailed to, 162, 166, 170–73, 185, 190, 198–99, 227–28, 283–96, 305
Power, NSC meetings, and, 153, 250, 251, 253, 254, 279–81, 282
pre-deployment, time with family, 40–41
public’s offers of support for US-affiliated Iraqis sent to, 194–95
refugee assistance begun, 167, 169–75
Refugee Bureau meeting, first, 179–81
return to Iraq (2009), 254–59
return to USAID, Baghdad (2009), 258–59
Sauerbrey and, 194, 231
search for support for Iraqi asylum cases, 200
Second Marine Expeditionary Force and, 80–83
State Department call to, with complaint, 198–200
stress and, 94, 95–96
stress and migraine, 197–98
UN summit on the Iraqi refugee crisis and, 300–301
USAID hires, 37
USAID housing, Green Zone, 43, 76, 258
USAID meeting in Washington (2007), 182–85
USAID PAO, Baghdad, 45–48, 50–53, 56, 67
USAID phones returned, 129–30
USAID “regional coordinator for reconstruction,” Fallujah, 75, 76, 77–80, 81, 84–86, 89–94, 187
USAID’s email system and, 117–18
USAID training, 37–38
USAID transfer request, 69
US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and, 158
Vietnam War, lessons of and, 265–68
Yaghdan and, 53, 57, 162, 166, 173, 204, 240–42
Zaid and, 169, 171, 172, 173
Johnson, Soren (brother), 7, 12, 13, 16, 18, 99
Johnson, Tom (father), 237
political campaign of, 9–12, 158
son’s deployment to Iraq and, 40–41
son’s fugue state and injuries, 97–103
son’s recuperation and, 120
as state representative, 14
taking in refugees and, 239, 240
in Vietnam, 13, 41, 76
Johnstone, Craig, 266, 273–74
Jordan:
Iraqi refugees in, 108, 109, 150, 172, 227, 230, 259
MOAG rerouted through, 59
pencils ferried to Iraq, 26
US Embassy in, 149, 227
Kafka, Franz, 243
Kaguyutan, Janice, 200
Kamal, Sheikh (head of Fallujah City Council), 129
Kamen, Al, 65
Kanafani, Ghassan, 19
Karbala’, Iraq, 26, 28, 29, 161
Kaufmann, Marlene, 275
Kawkaz, Mohammed Khalil, 85–86
Kazakhstan, 20–21
KBR. See Halliburton-KBR
Kennedy, Edward “Ted,” 192–93, 200, 238, 242, 244, 246, 302
Kennedy, John F., 49
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 250
Kerik, Bernie, 171–72
Kerr-McGee Chemical Company, 14
Khalilzad, Zalmay, 107
kharze zarqas (amulets), 135
kidnappings, 31, 79, 209, 212, 225, 257, 293
Kimmitt, Gen. Mark, 73
Kirkuk, Iraq, 287, 290
Camp Warrior, 295
MOAG and, 59
Omar assassinated in, 292–93
Kissinger, Henry, 172, 263–64, 265
Koppel, Ted, 49
Kosovar refugees (1999), 252
Kurds, 26, 57
Kuwait, 141, 259
Ali Al-Salem air base, 255
British and, 25
Iran’s war debt to, 24
Iraq invasion (1990), 24–25
Laos, 271
Hmong in, 268
Lawrence, T. E., 87–88
Libya, 280
Lindsay Light Company, 13–14
List Project (to Resettle Iraqi Allies), 197–205, 237
ABC World News and, 192
Afghani requests to, 303, 305–6
Basma as staff, 302
bureaucratic stalling and, 269–70, 302, 303
Congressional hearings, 272–74
Congressional support, 237–38
difficulties of (2008), 246
first win of, 240
funding for, 204, 224, 228, 245, 304
“the Guam option” proposed, 253, 254, 270–74, 275, 276, 280
Hayder and, 226–28
interpreters’ pleas to, 247
Johnson as director, 205, 224, 228–29, 235, 245, 260–62
Johnson makes a list, 174, 175, 195
Johnson meets with US-affiliated Iraqis in Baghdad (2009), 257–59
Johnson’s new strategy, 262
Johnson’s vision for, 228
Johnson takes his list to the DOS, 179–81
Johnson takes his list to the Refugee Bureau, 276–77
launching of, 205, 224
law firms’ support for, 203–4, 205, 224–25, 254, 260, 281, 302
new applications to, 302
nonprofit status, 204–5
number of Iraqis helped, 254, 260, 271, 282
number of names, 238, 251, 254, 260, 265
Omar (US-affiliated Iraqi) and, 283–96, 299
Omar’s family asylum request and, 295–96
opposition to, 235–37
protest against interpreters’ mask ban, 246
refugees becoming US citizens, 306, 307
Tides Foundation grant, 204–5, 256
Tona and Amina as staff, 205, 224, 225, 302
Tragedy on the Horizon: A History of Just and Unjust Withdrawal, 272
Vanderbilt law students and, 271
Wisner added to board of, 267
Yaghdan and, 226
Zina and, 225
Long, Breckinridge, 269, 292
Los Angeles Times, 66, 148, 149, 150
first to publish on plight of US-affiliated Iraqis, 168
Johnson op-ed piece, 167–69, 229, 302
Luayy (Iraqi friend), 76
Lugar, Richard, 238
M240G machine gun, 80–81
Maack, Marcia, 224, 281, 302
Mahdi Army, 189, 209–10, 212, 240
Maimonides, 298
al-Maliki, Nouri, 23, 155, 156, 246, 247
speech before Congress, 156–57
Mamaux, Lale, 275
Mamet, David, 113
Mansfield, Dr., 38–40
Marshall Plan, 49
Martin, Graham, 263, 265, 266
Maryam (US-affiliated Iraqi), 170, 173
Mashael (US-affiliated Ira
qi), 106
Mather, Increase, 298
May (US-affiliated Iraqi), 171–72, 173
Mayer Brown, LLP, 224, 281, 302
McCain, John, 156
McDonald, James, 269
Miller, T. Christian, 66, 148–49, 150, 167–68
“Minutes of Washington Special Actions Group Meeting” (1975), 263–64
MOAG (Mother of All Generators), 58–61, 66
Mouayyad (US-affiliated Iraqi), 137, 140, 303
Muhammara, Iraq, 134
Mujahedeen-e Khalq, 77
Mustafa, Farouk, 19
My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope (Bremer), 121, 122
Najaf, Iraq, 26, 28–29
National Democratic Institute, 244
National Public Radio, 85
National Security Agency (NSA), 20
Natsios, Andrew, 49
Nazar, Dr. (Fallujah veterinarian), 90–92
NBC Nightly News, 109
Negroponte, John, 235
neoconservatives, 53, 109, 121, 234
New Republic, 187
New Yorker, 186–87
Packer’s article “Betrayed,” 190, 192, 250
New York Times:
Arango article on Obama administration disregarding the Hastings amendment, 278
editorial opposing Sauerbrey nomination, 178
Johnson as intern, Middle East Bureau, 20
Worth interview with Johnson, 169
Nightline, 49
9/11 terrorist attacks, 19, 74, 135–36, 194
Constitutional principles eroded and, 298–99
delays in visa processing and, 232, 250
narrowness of thought in Washington and, 262
shutdown of US Refugee Admissions Program and, 177
US reluctance to resettle Muslims after, 235–36, 261
Nouri (US-affiliated Iraqi), 201
Nugent, Chris, 200–201, 202, 203, 302
List Project and, 203–4, 302
trip to Iraq with Johnson, 255, 257
Yaghdan and, 226
Obama, Barack, 17, 153, 156, 178, 179, 238, 270
announcement of Iraq War end, 281, 286
appointees, 253
excerpt, “Turning the Page in Iraq,” 249, 251
Hastings bill and, 274, 278
Johnson’s hopes for, 250–51
Libyan rebels airlifted, 280
Power (Samantha) and, 250, 253–54
2013 National Defense Authorization Act, 304
US-affiliated Iraqis and, 249, 253, 258, 259, 265, 300
withdrawal from Iraq and, 251, 273
Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), 78–79
funding, 78
rubble removal, 78–79, 80
Oil Training Institute of Baghdad, 135
Omar (US-affiliated Iraqi), 283–96, 299
assassination of, 292–93
brother of threatened, 294
bureaucratic stalling and, 292
family’s request for asylum, 294, 295
threat letter sent to, 288–89
wife and child threatened, 293
101st Airborne, 137, 140, 307
Charlie Company, 143
Hayder as interpreter for, 139–40, 142–45, 147
Operation Baghdad Pups, 303–4
Packer, George, 186–87, 190, 192, 200, 231, 250, 251
Parsons Corporation, 290, 295
Paul, Rand, 278
Pelosi, Nancy, 155
Petraeus, David, 234, 246
Philip, Pate, 11–12
Poland, 252
Power, Samantha, 153, 250, 251, 270–71, 275
backpedaling by, 279–80
NSC meetings, 253, 260, 279–81, 282
Primitivo (Haitian worker), 96–98, 99
private security firms, 38, 52, 55–56, 59, 61
Blackwater, 38, 73, 298
Problem from Hell, A: America and the Age of Genocide (Power), 153, 275
Projects and Contracting Office (PCO), 49
Proskauer Rose LLP, 204, 225
protection security detail (PSD), 60
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), 95–97, 304
Question 19, 165
Refugee Admissions Program, 271, 277, 278
Refugee Bureau. See US Department of State
Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act, 238, 244
Refugees and Rescue (McDonald), 269
Reid, Harry, 155
Republican Guard, 26, 45
Rhodes, Ben, 251
Rice, Condoleezza, 185
Rijal fi’il-shams (Men in the Sun) (Kanafani), 19
Rolling Stone magazine, 280
Roosevelt, Eleanor, 270
Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 269
Rosen, Nir, 85
Rosenblatt, Lionel, 266
Roskam, Peter, 237
Rumsfeld, Donald, 105, 156, 169
al-Sadr, Muqtada, 173, 189, 209, 240
Sadr City, Iraq, 62, 68
“Safeguarding Our Allies” (Johnson), 168–69
Safe Report, 55–56
“Saga of Njáll Burned Alive,” 71–72
Salem witch trials, 298
Samarra, Iraq, 107–9, 162, 168, 178
Santorum, Rick, 157
Saudi Arabia, 207
Shi’a refugees in, 26
Voice of the South radio station in, 25
Sauerbrey, Ellen, 177–78, 229, 253, 275
ABC World News profile and, 194, 229
denies Refugee Bureau has Johnson’s list, 194, 229
Johnson as persona non grata with, 194
testimony before House Committee on Foreign Affairs, 231, 231–32
Schlesinger, James R., 264
Schlosser, Julie, 228
Schwartz, Eric, 253, 273, 275, 276, 278
Second Marine Expeditionary Force, 76, 84, 93
Civil Affairs Group, 80, 89
Fallujah convoy runs, 81–83
Johnson and, 80–83
med packs, 81–82
Seneca, 166
Seven Pillars of Wisdom (Lawrence), 87–88
shemagh (men’s headcovering), 3
Shi’a, 23
in Basrah, 207, 209
Iraq government dominated by, 247
Iraq uprising late 1970s, 23
militia, 212, 257
refugees (1991), 26
sharia law instituted by, 234
in Southern Iraq, 57
Sunni attack on Al-Askari Shrine, 107–8
uprising following Gulf War, 25–26
Short Guide to Iraq, A (US Army, 1943), 35–36
Siemens, 61
60 Minutes, 27
60 Minutes II, 62
Skanninge, Stockholm, 15
Smith, Gordon, 238
Snake (US-affiliated Iraqi), 219
Snow, Tony, 109
solatia (condolence payments), 84–85, 86
Special Immigrant Visa (SIV), 238, 242, 244, 253, 274
expiration of, 302
killing of program, 245
poor performance of, 271, 278
waiver of “original signature,” 281
Stearman, William, 264
Stevens, Ted, 155
Stover, Col. Steven, 246
Suhair, 32, 65, 66
Sunnis, 23
in Baghdad, 57
as Basrah minority, 207, 209
militants, attack on Al-Askari Shrine, 107–8
the Sahwa (“Awakening”) and, 234, 246
Sweden: Iraqi refugees in, 189
Syria:
Iraqi refugees in, 108, 109, 162, 168, 189, 240, 259
Mahdi Army in, 189
US sanctions on, 59
Tara (sister of Zina), 207
application for refugee status, 230
at Camp Taji, Pod 23, 215, 216
danger and risks faced by, 218
in Egypt, 230
flight from Iraq, 220
Halliburton-KBR and, 213–14
lif
e in America, 306
Titan Corporation and, 214
Tarmiyah province, Iraq, 216
Mushahada, 217
reimbursements to, 218
violence in, 218–19
Tartous, Syria, 59
Thieu, Nguyen Van, 265
Thompson, James “Big Jim,” 11
Tides Foundation, 204–5, 256–57
Time magazine, 131, 250
Titan Corporation, 148–50
interpreters working for, 214
Iraqi employees, slain/injured list, 299–300
Tobias, Randall, 182
Tona (US-affiliated Iraqi), 106–7, 160, 184
claims asylum in the US, 201
employed by the List Project, 205, 224, 225
Tonga, 20–21
Tragedy on the Horizon: A History of Just and Unjust Withdrawal (List Project), 272
Turkey, 136
Iraqi refugees in, 26, 290
“Turning the Page in Iraq” (Obama), 249, 251
United Arab Emirates, 5, 161
United Kingdom:
affiliated Iraqis assassinated, 252
British withdrawal from Iraq, 252
Iraqis granted refugee status, 252
United Nations:
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 149, 150, 172, 177, 181, 199, 221, 226, 228, 232
no-fly zones established by, 26
oil-for-food program, 135
sanctions on Iraq, 26–27
summit on the Iraqi refugee crisis, 300–301
UNICEF in Iraq, 170
United States. See also Iraq War
Blackstone’s formulation, 298, 299
bombing of Baghdad (March 2003), 28–29
companies in Iraq, 24, 29–30, 32–33, 47, 61, 62, 87, 125, 148–49, 150, 213, 214, 244–45, 290
Congressional bills on moral obligation to support US-affiliated Iraqis, 237–38
Gulf War, 25
history of airlifts, 252–53
Iraqi Kurds admitted to (1996), 252–53
Kosovar refugees admitted to (1999), 252, 271
principles eroded in, 298–99
refugees accepted in, history of, 265–72
rejection of Jewish refugees, 269
reluctance to resettle Muslims, 235–36
Saddam Hussein supported by, 24
sanctions on Iraq, 26–27
secret “black-site” prisons, 261
torture and interrogation by, 62
United States Holocaust Museum, 269
University of Chicago, Oriental Institute, 18
University of Michigan, 204, 205
USAID (US Agency for International Development), Iraq, 3, 75
as administrative agency, 50
-ARDI (Agriculture Reconstruction and Development for Iraq) program, 52, 53
armored luxury SUVs and, 50
body armor distributed by, 46
Casey visits, 67–68
Creative Associates International and, 33
criticism of, 78, 182
CTOs (cognizant technical officers), 78
denial of protection for Iraqi employees, 160–61, 258
education initiatives, 5, 68, 170
email system, 117