He was my most effective weapon in Iraq. Without him by my side, I was essentially deaf and blind. His name is Esam, and he served as my interpreter in Iraq. Iraqis like Esam put their lives on the line for their country, and for our troops. Now, most are facing forced exile, separation from their families, or even death.
Esam is one of the lucky ones to have made it out of Iraq alive. More than 250 interpreters working for U.S. forces or contractors have been killed in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.
Current estimates put the number of Iraqis who have worked with American forces in Iraq in the tens of thousands. And in many cases, their cooperation with Americans has put them at a huge risk for retaliation. Unfortunately, they're finding it almost impossible to find refuge inside the U.S.
Our government has pledged to bring 12,000 Iraqi refugees to the U.S. by this September. But we have seen this promise broken before. As it stands now, only 1,432 refugees have been admitted since October of 2007. Sweden, a country with no troops in Iraq, has admitted 20,000 refugees in the same time period.
This is an issue our country has wrestled with in the past, so we know it has a solution; in 1999, President Clinton oversaw the admittance of 10,000 Kosovo refugees. Now it's clear that a similar, executive-level government effort is needed to ensure we don't leave these people behind without recourse and without hope.
IAVA and our Member Veterans are making this issue a major priority in 2008. In January, IAVA's Will Bardenwerper, an Iraq veteran, spearheaded an unprecedented working group in New York City with people involved in the fight to help our Iraqi allies. The speakers included advocates such as Kirk Johnson, a former USAID employee who worked in Baghdad and the founder of The List Project. The List Project is already tracking more than 1,000 Iraqis running from persecution as a result of their cooperation with American forces, and they hear from more each day. Kirk was joined by Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, The New Yorker's George Packer, Iraqis themselves (including five interpreters and their veteran sponsors), human rights organizations and other leaders in the field, to talk about the best way to tackle this problem.
The 2008 National Defense Authorization Act, signed into law by President Bush in January, included a provision to increase the number of special visas for Iraqi interpreters and other Iraqis who worked for the State Department or American contractors in the war zone. But progress has been stalled. Its implementation is being held up by officials in the State and Homeland Security Departments. Meanwhile, the Iraqis wait under constant threat.
As Kirk Johnson argues:
"If this doesn't prove why it's President Bush's responsibility to whip these bureaucracies into shape, and why the best intentions of Congress can only nudge things, I don't know what else can."
Join IAVA in bringing this urgent message to Washington. Click here to sign a petition to President Bush telling him to take real action on the issue. This is just the first step towards repaying our debt to the comrades we have left behind to die.
Follow Paul Rieckhoff on Twitter: www.twitter.com/PaulRieckhoff
We desert our friends (Vietnam and Iraq, most notably) and then we ignore and discard our veterans. The problem is, America is a corporate-driven Oligarchy, and its getting worse, not better. Allies are simply pawns in the quest for corporate takeover of EVERYTHING, and so are the men and women who served the Oligarchs in the uniformed services of this nation. The people who wear the uniform and who stand at the point of the spear are the patriots. The people who send them into harm's way owe allegiance to two things: Money and Power. They are Oligarchs and servants of the Oligarchy. Maybe once, there was hope for this Republic, but now... Oh, my....
When we hire locals in any country, either as interpreters or any job, we must ensure their safety, especially when there's conflict, heightened tensions and civil war. It's a matter of principle that we should not abandon those who do our bidding, accept our guarantees, or work for and with us.
Credibility is vital, and to betray the trust of those to whom we make promises sets us up for the inevitable conclusion that the U.S. government and its leaders can not be trusted. It is the ultimate betrayal to ask someone to put their lives at risk, and then turn our backs on them.
Thank You for your time and energy on yet another critical issue to our Country's future ! We're here for you.
More to follow. -ralph
really respects you, as do I. I would recommend reading William Blum's "Killing Hope", where he
documents every US Military and CIA involvement since WWII, we have a long and sordid history of
abandoning those who have helped us.
How will you know the person that shows up in the USA is really a family member and not someone paying or paid to come here?
Unless, what we're really doing is "winning hearts and minds" by using them and leaving them there to die for being in our service. That's the height of counter productive. Ask the other countries picking up our slack by allowing refugees in if they have a "terrorist" problem after rescuing people from our debacle. THEY'RE NOT.
Will we ever learn?
We don't even care for our own disabled vets very well !!!!!!!!!!!!!
I recommend you read the book, thank him not only for his and others courageous service, but for going the extra mile of being a true patriot and identifying our greatest domestic threat as a nation.
Mr. Rieckhoff, I did sign your petition. And I made a donation to the IAVA site. Thank you for what you are doing. We need to keep this issue you posted, and the others you raised in the fore front.
We really appreciate all your support!
We owe a great deal to the Iraqis who have aided us. We can begin repaying them by admitting them to the USA at once or sooner. I signed your petition because loyalty & justice demand that all who read your blog sign your petition.
I doubt if the lame duck, W, will do anything to aid the Iraqis who have risked their lives to serve us. The Congress & the candidates for POTUS should take up your cause by pressing to have these Iraqis admitted to the USA at once. This is no time for red tape to be used to delay admitting the Iraqis who have aided us at the risk of death.
http://biden.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=277287&&
And, as Senator Biden said, the only way to solve the refugee crisis itself is to make it safe for Iraqis to return to their homes by working to promote a sustainable political settlement in Iraq.
And, I hope that everyone who talks about withdrawing US forces from Iraq - absent a political solution - will realize that ALL US forces will have to withdraw, along with all US civilians, AND all Iraqi citizens and their families who have risked their lives assisting coalition forces.