Riders on the Storm

Riders on the storm
Riders on the storm
Into this house we're born
Into this world we're thrown
Like a dog without a bone
An actor out on loan
Riders on the storm...
-The Doors


CHICAGO -- When gunmen broke into Nabil Toma Shabo's Baghdad home a year ago and threatened to kill his family, he says he decided to flee Iraq. He had no idea how long the search for safety would last -- or where it would take him.

The seven-month trek began in Istanbul, where Mr. Shabo, traveling with his family, found a smuggler who promised to get them to Mexico and then the U.S. for $10,000 -- their life savings. After four months in Mexico, the Shabos were driven to the border. The driver pointed to a fence and told the family to start walking.

"He said, 'There it is, there is America,' " Mr. Shabo remembers. The Shabos walked to a U.S. guard post and, in halting English, requested political asylum. While they wait for a ruling, they are living in a Chicago suburb with Mr. Shabo's parents, who fled to the U.S. with an earlier migratory wave during the regime of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Amid sectarian violence in Iraq, senior U.S. military commanders warned lawmakers last week that the country is at risk of sliding into civil war. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are becoming refugees, with thousands of them trying to reach the U.S. But with visas difficult to come by, a growing number -- including the Shabo family -- are entering illegally and then seeking asylum, sparking questions about how much Washington should assist those fleeing a U.S.-led war.

The Iraqi exiles entering America are part of one of the largest exoduses in modern Middle Eastern history. The Iraqi government has over the past 12 months issued more than 1.8 million new passports, a figure that corresponds with nearly 10% of the country's population. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates there are more than 800,000 Iraqi exiles in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.

Some U.S. border officials express general concern that Iraqi insurgents might try to enter the U.S., though they say there is no evidence any have...

No evidence, of course. And perfect cover. Like Don John Negroponte needed an excuse.

...Theres a killer on the road
His brain is squirmin like a toad
Take a long holiday
Let your children play
If ya give this man a ride
Sweet memory will die
Killer on the road, yeah...
-The Doors