Lost in Translation
I read a truly disturbing article in March 26th's New Yorker Magazine about the fates of translators in Iraq who had helped the United States: it wasn't pretty—not the article nor the fates. Basically, it appears that the Greenzone was being run by high school students (not literally) during the Bremer years, and didn't really improve much afterward. Translators, who were allowed to view privy information and documents, were made to wait up to three to four hours in the "Greenzone" line to get to work: they were denied the "speedy passes" to bypass the lines (But Jordanians were given them!). This allowed the translators to easily be spotted by insurgents, and then targeted by the same. Many translators lost their property when forced to flee from their homes; in some cases, they lost relatives or even their own lives. Very few Visas to the United States were given to "outed" translators; most of them fled to Jordan, Syria, England, Sweden, Canada, essentially anywhere other than the country that they laid their lives on the line for.
This is a national disgrace. But a familiar one. We did the same to the Hmong, who helped us in Vietnam. They are still feeling the heat from the Vietnamese government, and still are trying to immigrate to the U.S. Fortunately, the governor of Minnesota, who was helped by the Hmong when his plane was shot down over Vietnam, has done a great deal to try to bring as many Hmong as he can to his state. Our federal government apparently has had no such attack of conscience.
But back to the translators.
Our treatment of them brings up a couple of very obvious questions. 1) If you trust Iraqis to translate documents that might be sensitive, it seems that you would trust them not to bring bombs into the Greenzone, especially if they had worked for you for years. 2) Hearts and minds. If you alienate the very people who are willing to lay their lives on the line to help, you aren't going to stand much of a chance with those less enamored with your occupation. Furthermore, if translators were so inclined to help the insurgents after you turned them over to the jackals of war by not helping move them and their families to safety, they would be a great asset: translators know you, and know you better than you think.
As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon." It's the stupidity, stupid.
I read a truly disturbing article in March 26th's New Yorker Magazine about the fates of translators in Iraq who had helped the United States: it wasn't pretty—not the article nor the fates. Basically, it appears that the Greenzone was being run by high school students (not literally) during the Bremer years, and didn't really improve much afterward. Translators, who were allowed to view privy information and documents, were made to wait up to three to four hours in the "Greenzone" line to get to work: they were denied the "speedy passes" to bypass the lines (But Jordanians were given them!). This allowed the translators to easily be spotted by insurgents, and then targeted by the same. Many translators lost their property when forced to flee from their homes; in some cases, they lost relatives or even their own lives. Very few Visas to the United States were given to "outed" translators; most of them fled to Jordan, Syria, England, Sweden, Canada, essentially anywhere other than the country that they laid their lives on the line for.
This is a national disgrace. But a familiar one. We did the same to the Hmong, who helped us in Vietnam. They are still feeling the heat from the Vietnamese government, and still are trying to immigrate to the U.S. Fortunately, the governor of Minnesota, who was helped by the Hmong when his plane was shot down over Vietnam, has done a great deal to try to bring as many Hmong as he can to his state. Our federal government apparently has had no such attack of conscience.
But back to the translators.
Our treatment of them brings up a couple of very obvious questions. 1) If you trust Iraqis to translate documents that might be sensitive, it seems that you would trust them not to bring bombs into the Greenzone, especially if they had worked for you for years. 2) Hearts and minds. If you alienate the very people who are willing to lay their lives on the line to help, you aren't going to stand much of a chance with those less enamored with your occupation. Furthermore, if translators were so inclined to help the insurgents after you turned them over to the jackals of war by not helping move them and their families to safety, they would be a great asset: translators know you, and know you better than you think.
As Bugs Bunny would say, "What a maroon." It's the stupidity, stupid.
posted by mariestaad at 9:34 AM
6 Comments:
Hi Mariestaad,
What you pointed out in your questions makes me think of how much we are subjected to common sense in our daily life and how utterly lost it is from the people who run Iraq; whether they are Iraqis in the Greenzone or US and its allies. Come to think of it in the whole war on terror common sense is absent in the mind of most of the people who manage it.
When people are treated unfairly as these translators who indeed laid their lives on the line to help common sense is that there is huge risk they will feel anger and that anger in today’s Iraq is easily nurtured to build a grudge, hate and contempt against those who had the means to give peaceful help and still did not. This is why the US and its allies are seen as part of the problem in Iraq.
Mariestaad thank you for a very good post!
The Hmong in Vietnam are not the ones there's a problem with. Most of them have settled with the communists and, indeed, may have been on the communist's side. The problem and human rights problems are with the vietnam-puppet government in Laos which was beaten to hell in the war and swore at the war's end they would annihilate all Hmong in Laos. IT'S LAOS NOT VIETNAM, IT'S LAOTIAN HMONG WHO WERE UNDER HMONG GENERAL VANG PAO WHO WHIPPED THE LAO AND VIETNAMESE ARMY'S ASS FOR 10 YEARS. THEY DESTROYED THE VN CONVOYS OF MEN AND SUPPLIES COMING OUT OF NORTH VIETNAM USING THE HO CHI MINH TRAIL
here is the link to the article. you may want to include it on the post.
Betrayed The Iraqis who trusted America the most.
i read on BT's thread about your post. i have linked to it a few times on 24's blog as i think it is very important. thanks for you post.
Ok, anonymous, but many of the Hmong that live around here are from Vietnam, not Laos. But you are right, many of the Hmong who have immigrated are from Laos. But to lump the Vietnamese Hmong in bed with the "communists" is not entirely accurate. I had a Hmong student who immigrated from Vietnam who would beg to disagree with you. Her father was wounded helping the U.S. military and is not eligible to receive any military benefits (although he is an amputee).
Thanks Nadia and Annie for your nice posts! Nadia, you are right: common sense seems completely absent from the debacle in Iraq. I don't think if you asked the average American citizen at the beginning of the occupation, "How can you really screw Iraq up?" that he or she could come up with a more idiotic plan than the one we have implemented. It's incredible!
"I don't think if you asked the average American citizen at the beginning of the occupation, "How can you really screw Iraq up?" that he or she could come up with a more idiotic plan than the one we have implemented. It's incredible!"
Yes indeed.
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