Iraqi Refugees Arriving in the US

The Bush administration has signed off on a plan to accept more of the 2 million refugees who've fled Iraq.

And in a sign of how little optimism some Iraqis have for the US efforts there -- the first batch of 59 refugees are all US employees in Iraq. The 59 are part of a group of 700 refugees the US government considers vunerable -- potential targets of insurgents.

A total of 7,000 refugees are expected to arrive in the US by September. That's roughly nine times the total of 800 Iraqi refugees the US has allowed in the country since the 2003 war began.

Part of the delay: the Department of Homeland Security has been working on screening procedures for allowing Iraqi refugees into the country. (Boston Globe)