Iraqis who aided US left behind and fearful 
Long delays for visas mean thousands of former interpreters for US remain in Iraq, afraid of assassination.

Gregg Carlstrom Last Modified: 18 Dec 2011 12:35

BAGHDAD – It was supposed to be a simple deal: Work with the American occupation here for one year, and earn a visa to resettle in the United States.

John put in 27 months as a linguist and adviser, both with the military and with a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) attached to the US embassy in Baghdad. Last November, midway through his tenure with the Americans, he applied for a visa under a special State Department programme.

Thirteen months later, he is still waiting for an answer, and worries that he might be killed before he gets one: The Iraqi government has been gathering details about people who worked with the US military, and John fears that information could be leaked to armed groups; and he has received several anonymous, harassing phone calls from people who know about his work history.

“It's a fact to these people, we betrayed our country, anyone who worked with the Americans,â€

We also promised the Turks that we would not permit the Kurds to rearm, or resume activities to reunite "Kurdistan," it the Turks gave us permission to use their air space, and, I think, to do some refuling or stationing.

While we were still fighting in southern Iraq, early in the game, we permitted the Kurds to form political and some sort of militia units under a Kurdish flag, and Turkey has been ticked off for years over the broken promise. 

I can remember when one of the anti-Russian propaganda phrases concerned Russia having  "broken every treaty they ever signed."  We used to think that was disgraceful.

"broken every treaty they ever signed."  We used to think that was disgraceful.



There's not much difference between Russia and the US. They are different sides of the same coin.