Members of Congress Urge Repeal of Mask Ban for Iraqi Interpreters Posted by The Editors

This is a post from Eric Auner

The Washington Post reports that “Thirteen members of Congress and an association of interpreters this week urged the Pentagon to rescind a policy that prohibits interpreters who work with U.S. troops in Baghdad from wearing ski masks to conceal their identity.” This comes only five days after an earlier Washington Post article describing the ban.  The American Translators Association was especially troubled by this policy, and their spokesperson said "There seems to be a disconnect between the command and the people on the ground who appreciate what the interpreters are doing…We have received messages from members saying that this is outrageous -- that we have to do something. They're baffled, dismayed and even outraged at this really inexplicable policy."

Given the timing, it appears to me that the original article, which I previously wrote about, is at least partially responsible for this latest effort, so kudos to the Washington Post.  I was hoping that this latest article might contain a more fleshed out rationale for the ban.  Maybe that explanation is still lurking out there somewhere, but in this particular piece there was only a lame reiteration of the line that “the sharp reduction in violence in Baghdad has made wearing masks unnecessary.” Unfortunately for this line of reasoning, the decline in violence in Iraq does not mean that Iraq is safe yet, especially not for these interpreters.  At Vet Voice Brandon Friedman writes “At least half a dozen major milblogs, one prestigious magazine, two newspapers, 13 members of Congress, and every Iraq veteran to whom I've spoken about the story think the policy is a careless, dumb idea… Who in the Army actually supports this policy?”

From my perspective, what the mask ban issue really brings into focus is the sheer scope of what US policies in Iraq have to cover.  In other words, not only do we need to further reduce violence and help negotiate the passage of the new security agreement, we also regulate what our interpreters can and cannot wear, and even that has life and death consequences.  In any case, this latest step is a hopeful one, and hopefully it will be successful.

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