Iraqi interpreters looking to settle scores with Saddam

[Barrett808]

Iraqi interpreters looking to settle scores with Saddam
by Thibauld Malterre

HABBANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) - It would be difficult to find a more diverse group -- a former bodybuilder, a budding seminarian, an engaging fast-talker, an aging scholar -- but interpreters for the US military in Habbaniyah are united by a shared sense of mission and a chance to even scores.

The generous salary doesn't hurt either, but it takes more than money to make these Iraqis leave home for months on end, don the uniform of the US marines and go on patrol with them in the insurgency-plagued western province of Al-Anbar.

Each of them has a tale to tell of the past, about life under the old regime, that gives clues to their decision to take on one of the most dangerous jobs in a dangerous country.

"It is an honor to wear the Marine's uniform -- the devil's dogs as the Germans called them. I know everything about them, I've seen the movies and done searches on the Internet," said the fast-talking 22-year-old, who's taken the pseudonym "Jaguar".

...

"My uncle tried to kill Saddam, so Saddam killed my uncle. He killed my father; he sent my mother to jail," said Jaguar. "I thank God and George Bush for giving us freedom and stopping Saddam Hussein, the motherf---er."

(more)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060618/wl_mideast_afp/iraqusunrestinterpreters

[cantstandbush]

1. Sounds to like Saddam was acting in self defense.

If I try to kill you and you come after me and kill me...what is that? It's like self defense, and pre-emption only can be used by the US and supporters. If anyone tried to overthrow the Bushbots by attempting assassination, what the hell do you thing would happen to them, especially if they were part of an organized movement.

[CONN]

2. These stories aren't verifiable...

Remember Jumana Hanna who claimed her husband was killed by Sadam and she was jailed and tortured and raped. She claimed she went to Oxford University in England and received a degree in accounting. Oxford does offer accounting and she even needed an interpreter.

Her reward for these stories? -- refugee status and life in the United States.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20C11FC3A5C0C728EDDA80894DD404482

[MrPrax]

4. Thanks for the memory...

But in all fairest it was Sara Solovitch for Esquire that uncovered the fraud in a truly brilliant bit of very fine, but lengthy investigative journalism called The American Dream

Well worth the read and highly recommended...it's brillance lies in the fact that Solovitch manages to contain her own anger at being lied to and manipulated and ends up painting a portrait of a rather sad and pathetic woman called Jumana Hanna.

More to the topic: Interpreters with pure hatred towards a large segment of the Iraqi people, would obviously misinterpret...essentially this one kid is heading a death-squad and picking his own victims out of maliciousness and vengeance.

[Terran1212]

3. We have to remember how much of a fascist saddam hussein was

Many of these stories are likely true. I'm sure many people have so much a of a thirst for vengeance that they are ready to side with foreign occupiers, who most Iraqis well understand are only there for profit and plunder (at the cost of how much blood?). Such is war that the sides in it turn to hell.