employee housing, 43
executive officer, Sandy, 46–47
EXO (Executive Officer), 160
failures of, 66
Fallujah projects, 77–78
firing of personnel, 66–67
funding, 50, 67–68
Green Zone compound, 3, 45, 76, 160
“hand-in-glove” relationships, 75, 80, 90
health, education, and infrastructure offices, 78
identity crisis of, 50
IDU and, 51–53, 67, 78
Iraqis employed by, 42–43, 47, 61–66, 79, 168, 169, 172, 184
Iraq power (electricity) and, 57–61
Johnson hired for Baghdad, 37
Johnson in Baghdad, in PAO, 45–48, 50–53, 57, 59–60, 61, 67
Johnson in Fallujah, as regional coordinator, 75, 76, 77–80, 81, 84–86, 89–94
Johnson notifies of accident, 115
Johnson’s absence and, 119, 123, 125, 129, 153, 168, 184
Johnson’s boss, Doug, 45–46, 51, 61, 66–67
Johnson visits (2009), 258–59
marginalization of, 49
MOAG and, 58–61
Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI), 78–79
postwar reconstruction and, 49–50, 57–61
Public Affairs Office (PAO), 45–46
roof collapse, 259
rule of law training initiative, 156
staff photo (January 2005), 163, 184, 240
training for Iraq deployment, 37–40
treatment of Amina (US-affiliated Iraqi), 202–3
wasted US money and fraud, 58–61, 89–92
Yaghdan employed by, 2, 3, 33, 57, 63–66, 184
USAID (US Agency for International Development), Washington:
Johnson visits, 182–85
reaction to Johnson’s writing, 183
US Army, 283, 284, 295
“Smoke,” the Iraqi donkey, 304
US Army Corps of Engineers, 48
US Citizenship and Immigration Services, 201
US Department of Defense:
Biometrics Fusion Center, 87
Common Access Card, 40
as driver of US foreign policy, 75
“hand-in-glove” relationships, 75, 90
Iraq reconstruction and, 49, 67
Pentagon headquarters, Baghdad, 45
privatization and, 50
US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), 199, 232
interview questions for refugees, 225
interviews with Iraqi refugees, 225, 226
List Project and, 205
refugee czar appointed, 229
US Department of State, 75
Ambassador to Iraq, 107
Baghdad embassy, 45, 55, 65–66
Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM Bureau), 177, 179–81, 190, 198–200, 230, 235–36, 275
Green Zone embassy compound, 160
the Guam option and, 276
handling of case of US-affiliated Iraqi, Omar, 283–96
Iraqi refugees and delays in visa processing, 235–36
IRMO and, 49–50
Johnson called by, regarding his list, 198–200
Johnson delivers list of names to, 179–81, 190, 194
Johnson informs of legal help for refugees, 205
journalists’ interest in US-affiliated Iraqis and, 191
List Project and, 205
Refugee Crisis in Iraq Act blocked by administration, 244
refugee czar appointed, 229
US Foreign Service Institute, 38–40
USGspeak, 51–53, 181, 186, 199–200, 230, 273, 279
LES (Locally Engaged Staff), 65
“ramping up,” 52, 192, 232, 279, 303, 315
yes/no language, 52, 181, 273
US Immigration and Naturalization Service, 267
US Institute of Peace, 244–45
US Navy, 224–25
US Refugee Admissions Program, 177, 200, 245
US Regional Security Office (RSO), 47, 160
US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, 157, 158
Vanderbilt University’s Law School, 271
Varney, Stuart, 108
VBIED, 82
Vietnam War, 13, 41, 77, 172, 177
ad hoc evacuation of US-affiliated employees, 266, 273–74
airlift of US-affiliated employees to Guam, 267
code-phrase for evacuation, 266
final days, 265
lessons of, 265–68, 271
“Minutes of Washington Special Actions Group Meeting” (1975), 263–64
presidential intervention on behalf of US-affiliated employees, 268
songs, 179
Tan Son Nhut air base, 266
US-affiliated employees and emigration to US, 232, 263–64, 265–68
US-affiliated employees and fall of Saigon, 182, 194, 265
US embassy’s tamarind tree, 266
visas granted to US-affiliated employees, 267
Vitale, Ann, 166
Voice of America, 25
Voluntary Agencies (VOLAGs), 238–39
Wael (Jordanian working in Iraq), 210
abduction of, 211–12
Washington Post, 61, 65
Johnson article in Magazine, 181–82
Johnson op-ed piece for, 279
Washington Times, 178
Waxman, Sharon, 200
Webster, Gen. William G., 251
West Chicago, IL, 9, 10, 101, 117, 121, 127–29
thorium contamination of, 13–14
Yaghdan and family and, 238–42
“What Did Not Happen” (declassified memo), 105
Williams, Brian, 109
Williams, Byron, 256–57
Wise, Rabbi Stephen, 269, 270
Wisner, Frank, 267
Wolf, Mark, 267
Woodward, Bob, 243
World Refugee Day, 205
World War II:
Jewish refugee crisis, 269
visa policies, 268–69, 271
Worth, Bobby, 169
Yaghdan (US-affiliated Iraqi), 158–62, 184, 195, 247
accounting degree earned in US, 306
alassa identifies, 4–5, 158
Americans’ treatment of, 63–66
appeals for help to US, 5
application for refugee status, 226, 230
arrival in US, 240–41, 302
birth of, 23
bombing of Baghdad and, 28–29
Yaghdan (US-affiliated Iraqi)
burning of papers, 159
business partner, Mohammad, 27, 29, 30, 31
computer repair business, 27, 29
Creative Associates International employs, 32–33
disillusionment of, 61
early optimism about US occupation, 61
father’s position, 24
fleeing to Karbala’, 161
as “fourth Johnson brother,” 241
fund for, 166
Haifa and, 27, 32, 33, 159, 160, 161, 306
home in Baghdad, 4, 28
Johnson and, 53, 57, 162, 166, 173, 204, 240–42
lawyer for, 201, 226
losing faith in the visa process, 226
Packer and, 187, 190
questions about life in America, 239–40
requests for help from US employer, 106, 160–61
security measures used by, 3, 64
shooting of (2003), 4, 30–31
son born in US, 306
in Syria, 168, 189, 240
threats against and severed dog’s head, 5, 63, 106, 159, 166, 301–2
in the UAE, 5, 161–62
unwillingness to flee, 109
USAID employment, 2, 3, 33, 57, 63–66, 160–61, 184
as US citizen, 306
Vitale and, 166
wars during youth of, 23–24
West Chicago and, 238–42
Zarqawi, Abu Musab al-, 73
Ziad (US-affiliated Iraqi), 169, 171, 172, 173, 187, 189, 195
>
Zina (US-affiliated Iraqi), 207–19
abduction of Wael and, 211–12, 214
application for refugee status, 230
at Camp Taji, Pod 23, 215–16
computer programming studies, 210
contacts Johnson, 223–24
danger faced by, 213, 217, 218–19
in Egypt, 220–21, 230
engineering studies, 208–9, 212
flight from Iraq, 220
friend Eva killed in IED attack, 219
Halliburton-KBR and, 213–14, 221
hopes for Americans, 214–15
IED attacks and, 218, 219–20
informant contacts, 217
interpreter duties, 215–17
lawyer for, 225
life in America, 306
major of the civil affairs team and, 216, 217, 218–20
mother joins as refugee, 220
registration at UNHCR, 221
sniper fire and, 218
Titan Corporation and, 214
US bombing of Basrah and, 209
Wael and, 210–12
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To Be a Friend Is Fatal Page 36