U.S. Needs to Protect Iraqi Interpreters (VIDEO)

Despite the fact that more than 300 interpreters working with U.S. troops have been killed since 2003, the DoD started to enforce a ban on face masks in September.

Photo of Afghan interpreter in Kabul. In both Afghanistan and Iraq, interpreters are at great risk among local populations. 2007 photo by Tim King

(SALEM, Ore.) - Military interpreters in Iraq and Afghanistan have many challenges. While some have little or no family living in the country, most do. Exposing their identities from terrorists is essential and a serious no-brainer.

Still, the U.S. government recently decided that the Iraqi "terps" could no longer conceal their appearances with face masks. People all over Iraq and Afghanistan keep their faces covered; it is part of their culture.

I learned quickly in both countries that "terps" have to be protected. Our forces rely on them with everything they've got and destabilizing the lives of these brave Iraqi's is senseless and without justification.

Below is a statement from U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) on the Pentagon’s decision to again allow Iraqi interpreters working with U.S. troops to protect their identities with masks.

Despite the fact that more than 300 interpreters working with U.S. troops have been killed since 2003, the DoD started to enforce its ban on masks in September. Last month, Senator Wyden led a bipartisan group of Members of Congress asking Defense Secretary Gates to rescind the ban.

"Iraqi translators save American lives. They advise our servicemen and women on local customs, defuse misunderstandings and warn our troops when they are in harm's way. In an ideal world, these brave Iraqis and their families would not be targets, but as long as their lives are in danger, the U.S Government owes it to them to protect their identities. The Department of Defense made the right decision, and I thank them for reconsidering. This was a life or death decision," Wyden said.

This is the letter Wyden sent to Robert M. Gates, the Secretary of Defense.

Robert M. Gates
Secretary of Defense
1300 Defense Pentagon
Washington, DC 20301-1300

We are writing to express our serious concerns with reports of a policy that prohibits Iraqi interpreters from wearing ski masks to disguise their identities while working with U.S. troops.

With few operational benefits to this policy, and such obvious and severe negative consequences, we believe that you should rescind it as soon as possible.

I find it shocking that this has to even be discussed. We seem bent on proving to the world that the United States is really a danger to people, rather than a liberator.

Any U.S. politician who thinks we should force interpreters to expose their faces should be leading point on combat patrols in Iraq.

Some Iraqi interpreters are OK with having their image shown. I spoke with a man named Jakope Al Salim in the Anbar Province, about his role working with U.S. Marines:

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor.
Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 in Afghanistan with Oregon troops. Tim recently returned from Iraq where he covered the war there while embedded with an Oregon Guard aviation unit. Serving the community in very real terms, Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated with Google News and several other major search engines and news aggregators.
You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com