Photos: Visa denied for onetime Iraq ally

Saad Oraibi Ghafoori, credited with starting the Sunni Arab revolt in Baghdad against the militant group Al Qaeda in Iraq, sits in limbo with his family in Jordan after being rejected for immigration to the United States.  (Ned Parker / Los Angeles Times)

Saad Oraibi Ghafoori and his wife, Khalida, sit in their home in Amman, the Jordanian capital. After they were turned down for entry into the U.S. as refugees, she threatened to leave him and take their children back to Baghdad. Ghafoori persuaded her to stay.  (Ned Parker / Los Angeles Times)

To prepare for what he hoped would be his family’s acceptance by the U.S. as refugees, Saad Oraibi Ghafoori took classes where he learned about U.S. apartment rental prices and how to apply for food stamps. But they were turned down, despite his having fought alongside the U.S. military.  (Ned Parker / Los Angeles Times)