Different Faces of Iraq
By MAJ Donald L. Green -- January 08, 2008
I have spent a great deal of time in the last few weeks with the Iraqi people trying to define for myself the norms of their society and why the country remains in a state of distress. This may be a lofty goal for one individual but it is essential for my own understanding in developing long term goals for our time here. Fortunately, since my team's arrival, our eleven man number has grown to 16 with the addition of four Iraqi Interpreters and one Iraqi Police Liaison Officer (IPLO), who is a contractor working through the State Department to assist in our mission.
The Iraqi Interpreters are hired to aid teams throughout Iraq with the difficult task of interpreting the words between Arabic and English but more importantly ensure that the intent of the words are met by both speakers in the conversation. This is an incredibly difficult task and requires not only great skill and knowledge of language and grammar, but the nuance of tone and demeanor of the person talking. Beyond the parochial differences of the language there are other differences that the interpreters must work through in explaining why things are different within the society as a whole and generally persuade both sides of the conversation to drop certain topics or lines of conversation so as not to offend the individuals talking. Occasionally this must be done on the fly during translation and in the American or English case, the interpreter will explain later the reason for the change and the effect it would have had otherwise.We initially started with one interpreter because of ongoing vacations and a disagreement between the last team and their interpreters. Ghassan (prounounced gas-on) was heavily leaned upon being the one available interpreter during the transition process. At 38 years of age he is wise beyond his years and very accommodating to our needs and ignorance. Like most interpreters he was once an Iraqi soldier and fought in the Iran-Iraqi war and in Desert Storm against the Americans. At one time he was a Prisoner of War (POW) in Iran and though he does not discuss his military history I am sure this had a great impact upon him as a human being. He, like most "Terps" (American slang for interpreter), has a large family that he is responsible for and visits them when we can afford to let him return home. The interpreters must protect their families at all costs because what they do for the American Army is considered treason by the terrorists. If it becomes common knowledge that Ghassan is in the service of the United States, both he and his family can become targets of the unidentified insurgents and put his family at great peril for kidnapping or worse. For this reason most interpreters do not use their given names and have an alias to go by when they are working with the Americans. When they are assigned to units close to their homes, they will wear cover in the form of a ski-mask or scarf so as not to be identified by acquaintances in the area. Ghassan, like most long term Iraqi interpreters, has applied for a U.S. Visa and wants greatly to travel to the United States and eventually bring his family there to live a better life. I for one believe that he has more than earned the privilege to do so in the efforts he has given to our mission.
Our other interpreters are slightly older and have a great working knowledge of the people we coach, mentor, and train and like Ghassan -- Johnny, Bassman, and Mr. Moore have been in the Iraqi Army and understand the psyche of the Officers and Shurta (policeman) in our charge. These gentlemen are gracious and very willing to teach and assist in my team's education in the ways of a country foreign to us. Recently while Ghassan was on leave, the remaining interpreters invited me to their living quarters for chai (tea) and conversation. Iraqi people are very cordial, doing this daily, and are quick to pull out all the stops for their guests. We sat down in their crowded room where they sleep, work, and eat as they made chai and we discussed our backgrounds along with the way we came to be together in this place. As we enjoyed our time together I was pleasantly surprised by the similarities in our lives, much more so than the differences. I took the opportunity to highlight these commonalities to them and we quickly found that there was only a difference in language and perception between our cultures and like my time in Europe and Asia I found the parallel of being human the most important tie that binds us together. My team and I are extremely fortunate to have this type of assistance and have the opportunity to see a different side of war that most American soldiers never will.Our IPLO, Jayson Fernandez currently hails from Hernando, Mississippi. After leaving the Marine Corps, he went back home and became a Deputy Sherriff in Shelby County Tennessee. He assists us with teaching American police tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to the Iraqi National Police, our Iraqi counterparts. As a link to the former Transition Team, he gives us extremely valuable information as to what works and what does not in mentoring our counterparts.
Jayson continuously takes us from plans to application and binds us to our counterparts through an American eye due to our limited time in country and the difference of the Iraqi interpreter's perception and normal social interactions. He has the basics of Arabic down, understands the Iraqis in total, and quickly finds ways to relay information or emphasize the importance of what our team is trying to relay to the National Police. He is strong minded and has a strong heart believing in what he does while providing extra force protection to this team. Jayson is the type of person you want standing next to you in a bad situation, not staring back at you, which is interesting considering his compact 5 foot 7 inch frame. He has quickly become an integral member of the team and when he is not here his absence is felt by all. His time will soon draw to an end here and he has already made plans to go back to the states and continue his law enforcement career at home. He will be greatly missed.This country is reminiscent of a Hollywood western where the people have individually been exposed to tyranny and reprisal so long by the former regime and now the terrorists that they have become a part of what is wrong with the country. Their fear of reprisal for standing up and being counted against what plagues this country has paralyzed their ability to function as a normal society. The Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) psychologically fear standing against the enemy even though their weapons are the comparable and their personnel are much superior in number. It is up to us, like Clint Eastwood, to empower the people to see beyond their frailties -- just long enough to fight back for what is theirs. Daily I can see the improvements of the forces we train but the fear looms in each Iraqi that we will leave them before they are thoroughly prepared to control their own destiny. Unlike the founding fathers of our country, these people were rightfully forced into a situation of independence that much like children they asked for and thought they were prepared, but quickly found out that they were not. We must continue to be the role model for this nation and expose them to the strength that they have within -- but have forgotten how to use.
Green, the son of Delbert and “Birdie” Johnson of Columbia City, is a 1985 graduate of Columbia City Joint High School, a 1995 Graduate of Central State University, Ohio, and a career Army Officer.