"More importantly, Iraq is a country under occupation, and if history is any indication, collaborationist governments do not tend to end very well; the prospect of spending your last days in Northern Virginia, or worse, may not be very appealing for Iraqis who have chosen to become the political allies of the US occupation. The image of Antoine Lahd, Israel’s man in Lebanon who is now running a Lebanese restaurant in Tel Aviv, must have crossed the mind of every Iraqi in the government (and Iraqi cuisine is not under much demand in the US, unlike Lebanese food)."