Iraq War's Impact on Jordan - & the U.S.

I just got this email from a Christian friend in Jordan I'll call "Duane" that put a chill down my neck:

“Hi Mike,The situation here in Jordan is tense. A number of Iraqis have come over to Jordan. This has had mixed results though. Some come with money and businessskills, which can lead to higher prices as demandincreases. But many of the Iraqis do not have a good income, and they are (mostly) not permitted to work orsend their children to public schools here. Imagine having children at home with you all day, not being able to continue their elementary or secondaryeducation!Jordanians are mostly negative about the impact. Rent and gas and basic food prices have all gone up in price. But my hope is that as many of them are secularly minded or Christian, the influence on Jordan will be positive in the long run.”
(End of email)
Wow, I thought when I read it. This is news we rarely get here in the U.S. It should tell us that the spill over effect of the Iraq war is trouble and could destabilize some of the surrounding countries like Jordan –because of the economic cost.

We don’t have the luxury of waiting much past Nov. 8 to hear the Baker-Hamilton commission’s recommendations on Iraq. Our troops are facing burnout – and the military is so thin it could not respond to another global crisis, say if North Korea and China get hot.