George Packer discovers some more innocent victims of Ponzi schemer and penthouse penitentiary dweller Bernie Madoff: two foundations that funded Human Rights First, which provides legal assistance to Iraqi refugees seeking asylum in the US. Now, Packer reports, HRF needs a million bucks to meet its budget. How pathetic that Iraqis who’ve already suffered the unintended consequences of the invasion of Iraq should now suffer the unintended consequences of our economic free-for-all. And those are the lucky ones. For more on Mother Jones‘ coverage of the Iraqi refugee crisis, see David Case’s “Thrown to the Assassins” and our interview with Kirk Johnson, who’s pushing the Obama administration to airlift thousands of Iraqis still waiting to come to the States.
