The Status of Forces Agreement, which directs Iraq's transfer from U.S. to local control, has an unintended consequence: Iraqi translators could soon see their identities revealed and their lives threatened.
Translators in Iraq have led lives of secrecy in order to maintain their livelihood. Many use aliases, come to work every day wearing ski masks and sunglasses, and keep the nature of their work secret from even their families. If their collaboration with the U.S. military were brought to light, they would risk being killed by "insurgents, militias and death squads."
But now their worst fears are being realized. Global Linguist Solutions (GLS), which provides translators for the U.S. military in Iraq, will be increasingly overseen by the Iraqi government as part of the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). And the government will require paperwork from the translators that could compromise their identities and, as a result, their safety.
From The Washington Independent:
Some [translators] are considering fleeing Iraq entirely, raising the prospect of U.S. service members losing their ability to talk and listen to Iraqis. "We either quit," said Garrison, the pseudonym of an Iraqi interpreter, in an email, "or sign our own death warrants by turning the information [over] to the ministry."
A pretty amazing story that I haven't seen covered elsewhere.