
Our Iraqi Interpreter Sammy - akras14
https://www.alexkras.com/our-iraqi-interpreter-sammy/
======
Yabood
I was an interpreter with U.S. army as well, 617th MP Co. I also worked as a
contractor for BearingPoint (bought by Deloitte) on an INL funded project to
build a centralized database for the Iraqi Justice System (lookup IJIP - Iraqi
justice integration project). I too wanted to help rebuild the country but was
labeled as a traitor. I literally dodged death twice and received multiple
direct and indirect death threats during the time I worked with American
forces and companies. I was lucky enough to be granted a refugee status in
2008. I had multiple recommendations from the people I worked with including
one from the U.S. embassy in Baghdad that helped push my case forward a lot
faster. Other interpreters weren't so lucky, many have died and many are still
stuck waiting for their refugee status including, unfortunately, my best
friend.

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akras14
Thank you for your service and sacrifices! Really glad to hear that you are
safe now!

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owebmaster
Reading you saying this, I might be inclined to think that the guys that
labelled him a traitor were literally right, after all.

~~~
akras14
Apples and Oranges, he worked for US during the rebuilding stage, by then
Sadam was long gone.

Of course you must buy into an idea that democracy is better than
dictatorship, but assuming it is I can't see how wanting what is best for your
country is being a traitor. What was the alternative at that point? Being
ruled by ISiS like organization?

~~~
owebmaster
> Apples and Oranges, he worked for US during the rebuilding stage, by then
> Sadam was long gone.

Still, he helped americans while thousands of iraqis were been killed, mostly
civillians.

> but assuming it is I can't see how wanting what is best for your country is
> being a traitor.

He probably wanted the best for him, and succesfully got it, unlike some of
his colleagues that sold off the same stuff in exchange of hope.

~~~
akras14
Source for mostly civilian being killed? We are talking end of 2004 and up.

Everyone wants what is best for him, believe me working with Americans in end
of 2004 was not a good proposition from a risk/reward stand point.

~~~
owebmaster
> Counts of deaths reported in newspapers collated by projects like the Iraq
> Body Count project found 174,000 Iraqis reported killed between 2003 and
> 2013, with between 112,000-123,000 of those killed being civilian
> noncombatants.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casualties_of_the_Iraq_War)

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dingaling
It is shocking that people who put their lives on the line to serve
[US|UK|whomever] weren't granted more than, at best, refugee status given that
they were more than likely to be killed once they were no longer 'required'.

Interestingly the Soviets tended to take their own home-trained interpreters,
partly to prevent them being turned by the local population. One of the most
famous from the Afghan war was Vladimir Girigoryev who went on to establish
ArtOfWar.ru for veterans of that conflict.

The USA and UK do have an extensive language-training school at Chicksands in
England but the graudates of that school tend to serve in the ISAR trades
rather than being embedded with combat units.

