Ilhan Omar wasn't a poor, oppressed refugee saved by America in the way her story is often told. Her family served in Somalia's tyrannical regime under dictator Siad Barre. Her father was a colonel in the Somali National Army, and her grandfather held a high-ranking government position. They were part of the ruling elite—enjoying privilege and power—until the regime collapsed in 1991 and civil war forced them to flee as refugees. They weren't victims of the dictatorship; they were insiders in the oppressive system that enforced it. Only after their side lost power did they become refugees.