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Twice as Many Visas for Saudi Students?

12:25 PM, Apr 14, 2008 • By MICHAEL GOLDFARB
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Have you heard the good news?

US Ambassador Ford Fraker said in Sakaka that his country aims to double the number of student visas issued to Saudis.

"Currently there are 15,000 Saudi students in the US," he said during an event on Sunday with local business leaders to an audience at the Al-Jouf Chamber of Commerce and Industry. "We aim to increase their numbers to 30,000 over the next five years."

If we're going to role the dice on visas for young Muslim men, shouldn't we be taking in refugees from Iraq who've already proven their loyalty to this country? The U.S. government only plans to admit 12,000 Iraqis in FY2008 and is likely to fall short of that goal with just 2,600 admitted in the first three months of the year. So how about if we cancel the visas for the Saudi student pilots and instead bring in a few thousand more of those Iraqis who can get U.S. soldiers and Marines to vouch for their character and loyalty.

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