Caught in Between"
Third National Country (TCN) interpreters for the British army are recruited from Kuwait, as a replacement for local interpreters due to either luck of trust for the locals or/and the decline of their numbers due to various reasons such as high turnover for these locals due to fears for their lives from militia, with TCNs the army would not have that problem.
Most TCNs felt they were part of rebuilding Iraq and helping the people of Iraq, the truth is they were essential link between the Iraqis and the coalition, without them nothing could be accomplished, a job that was so important yet people who were performing that job were so marginalized, the local interpreters hated them because they saw them as taking their jobs, the Iraqi people hated them and called them traitors because they were employed by the coalition, the coalition didn’t trust them because simply they were Arabs and Muslims. We were caught in between, hated by everyone, we had to work so hard to proof for both sides that we were helping and we are not there to take sides, or against anyone, we were there to do a particular job and to facilitate communication between Iraqis and the coalition, that was it, no more, no less
To be fair I met people for both sides who understood and appreciated our efforts to help both sides to communicate, we managed to establish in many cases an environment of harmony between both sides, and we made a difference. However there were cases where we treated badly from coalition side and called names from the Iraqis side, these were the times we felt caught in between and felt so frustrated, I sometimes used to wonder why the hell am I here, no one trusts me, the money wasn’t good at all, and it wasn’t worth it. But again you see some officers whom showed us appreciation which made most of us continue to do the job.
I remember one time, after we were hit by a mortar, I was sitting outside the tent calling home through my cell phone, a bunch of soldiers passed by and one of them just launched at me and start shouting, apparently he was annoyed by me using the phone, he kept shouting about getting hit by mortar, forgetting totally that I was as much danger as he was from these mortars, but his words and anger towards me seemed like I was immune for mortars and these mortars are send for them and told to miss me in the process, I cursed back and told him, “you idiot bastard, don’t you realize we are in the same boat” that is when his superior officer intervene and explained to him that I was TCN and had the right to use the phone, a typical exam of ignorance on the part of the soldiers. We could report anyone who mistreats us, the system was there, but most times was not effective at all, besides we don’t report most of the times simply because we understood most mistreatments to us is due to ignorance, and ignorance has no cure. We choose to let it go, there is no point of leveling with such people.
The locals were not allowed to use mobile phones obviously for security reasons, since there was no way to know if they had any links to the militia. I am sure there position was hard too, not to be trusted by people you work for is really hard to swallow.
In Basra it was hard to be a TCN, we were underpaid, overworked and unappreciated, difficult position to be, the good ones left the job, most stayed behind because they had no skills to find a better job, so they stayed and jsut took in the abuses.
At one point the Labor Support Unit was headed by a major, he was self centered, egoistic power freak individual, he developed among interpreters a reputation of being cruel and rude individual, I think he knew that and was enjoying it, he was managed to dismiss a number of TCN interpreters some for a good reasons others just because he was an asshole, he kept threatening TCNs with dismissal from the job for minor offenses, at one point I seriously felt to tell him fuck yourself and resign, I really wished he was there when I resigned but unfortunately by then his tour ended and went wherever he came from. I honestly think he had low self-esteem and was a power freak, sometimes I wonder why some important positions are filled by people whom are unfit for it. I don't even know how he made Major.
To be a TCN interpreter in Basra is not an easy thing, we were considered tools, like any other tools, we were seen as unsociable and unintelligent even though some of us had graduate school degrees, if trusted and asked our opinion, things could be much easier for the army and great things could be achieved. Most officers are polite and respectful, but some were very arrogant and just plain ignorant. And if they saw that you know something, they will just you away further.
As far as I am concern, TCNs themselves had something to do with how poorly they were treated, we never were united, we never complained, and most as I said didn’t have skills and couldn’t believed they landed on such job, I tried many times to unite them and seek better conditions for us, but never worked, most were too content and happy the fact there had the job without its competencies and their performance didn’t matter. The army knew and didn’t care much. To be honest it is not worth it to be TCN in Iraq, the money is not good, and no benefits, and if something happens to you, it is you bad luck, we all signed a contract that waives all liabilities from the army in case anything happens to us.
Monday, March 31, 2008
An interpreter in Basra
Interpreters are the most neglected yet very much needed individuals in the Army in Iraq, when I first got there; in my mind I had a different perception of what is an interpreter supposes to be. People seem to see us (interps.) as spoiled, unnecessary and over paid brats. That is way far from the truth, we were the lowest paid and most worked people in the whole place. Soldiers change shifts, but we remain with every shift. Involving parties in the conversation talk once, we talk twice not mention a quick and direct translation is not easy by anyone’s standards.
There are 3 categories of interpreters
- Local interpreters – Iraqis, hardworking, educated and most ill treated individuals.
- TCN (Third Country Nationals), this was my category, most are people who are just trying to make a living and never complain, few were ass kissers, hustlers, don’t know shit and free riders, the competent ones were overlooked, and unappreciated, why and how?, don’t ask me, I left the job and I still didn’t find an answer for that.
- KBR – Kellogg Brown & Root Interpreters, They are probably the highest paid people in the whole place, these guys, I really admire them, they understood the system, worked as minimum as possible, mastered the art of do fuck all and get away with it, to be fair few of them were professionals and worked strictly based on their contracts, most spend more time on leave than actual work, and they do not go outside the base or on a convoy, taking risks is out of the question for them.
Local interpreters: (The LECs “Locally employed contractors” as everyone calls them)
Their case is typical case of human in need, they need the job to put food on the table, everybody knows that, and everyone is using that against them, they are overworked, always threatened to be fired for any wrong doing no matter how minor it may be.
I have made friends with some of the local interpreters, I was the probably the only TCN who made real friendship with the local interps., everyone mistrusts them, the army, the other interpreters, I mean everyone, but the truth is these individuals are highly intelligent, dedicated and very much educated. Most of them were English teachers or some kind of teachers before the war either at the university or high school level.
Each of them has a unique story, some of them even though their family members were killed or threatened to be killed because they worked with the coalition army, they kept doing their job and never complained, they live in constant fear, a lot of them left the job forcefully because they were fearful for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Some got killed after a year of leaving the job, some got killed while on the job, their stories are heartbreaking and no one is there to listen, few officers and soldiers sympathize with them but that is about it.
So much to say about them, and how they are treated by everyone, but I guess I don’t know where to begin and what story to tell, each has a story of why they took this job and what their experiences were, the only common thing among their stories is fear and harsh life with no hope for a better future.
I always wondered why the army recruited TCNs since there were so many educated Iraqis who could do a better job, know the culture and have better understanding of their own people’s mentality, I mean they could be just the people to do the job, but later I found out the reasons for that.
- First reason was high turnover among local interpreters due to fear for their lives or the low payment they were receiving.
- Second reason was (I am guessing and I probably this was true, as I was told by some Iraqis) distrust of the army for locals, they were seen a liability and security hazardous, besides there is also moral obligation towards these locals after the army leaves the country, they might have to take those with them, since their lives will be in danger, and the army possibly didn’t want that.
The alternative was to recruit TCNs, with no obligation whatsoever, paid them end of month salary and that is it, no other attachments, no pensions, no end of service compensation, all the army had to do is give them a month notice and end their contract anytime they feel like it with of course the usual one month notice policy to comply to UK labor policies just in case.
TCN (Third Country National) Interpreters
So much to tell about TCNs, they are from a different countries, some Arabs, and others non Arabs, they came from Somalia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Pakistan, Nepal and Gulf countries, some took the job for simply to make a living, other for adventure and experience, crazy as it seems adventure was my reason one for taking the job. All TCNs were recruited from Kuwait, they were people from other countries but reside in Kuwait.
TCNs were cheap and easy to find, most of them were average people, some with no education at all, not even a primary school, I sometimes felt they were hired on purpose knowing a lot of them were no good for the job, that way the budget was used properly and it was easy to control them, few of us were highly educated and were seen as trouble makers, because we argued and asked questions when we were neglected, one thing I really didn’t understand was, we were hired as interpreters, meaning doing only verbal interpretation, since our typing or any other relevant skills were not tested, but used as translators.
Only some of us were used as translators and paid as interpreters, all I did was translating documents, sometimes files and training materials all the time and I found out that translators were paid more than interpreters, and when I asked for an upgrade, I was simply ignored, even my supervisor wrote a letter to the Interpreters’ cell explaining that I was a translator not interpreter but he was ignored too.
I was most frustrated with the TCNs, few of us tried to organize them so that we ask better treatment but no use, and I wasn’t surprised, without skills or any sort of degree, they wouldn’t find a better job, it was life time opportunity for them, I almost left the job because of TCNs, I felt the profession was degraded because of some of these interpreters, if that is how I felt, imagine what would the educated local interpreters feel since they were getting paid 30% of what TCNs were getting paid!
I really never figured out what was going on with the British Army, was it just simple disorganization, or they just didn’t care what they were doing there, the good TCNs who didn’t complain were over utilized with translations and the good but trouble makers were send to insignificant places, bad ones were put in crucial offices and there were always problems and TCNs in general were blamed, I am sure the Army new it was their fault from the start, first they hired the wrong people due to their ineffective recruitment system, then got lucky getting some good ones but again making the mistake of putting the wrong ones in the right places and good ones in the wrong places. Then they wonder what went wrong.
To make it worse the army was dismissing their best TCN interpreters for various reasons, some TCNs knew they were good and were overconfident so they broke few rules and thought they could get away with it simply because the army had few good TCNs and thought they were indispensable, but apparently no one was indispensable, others were dismissed because they were complaining so much. There was also a grouping within TCNs each group trying to eliminate members of the other group just because they didn’t like them and informing the LSU (Labor Support Unit) about them and making fake allegations, sometimes accusing them with serious untrue allegations, LSU claims to do investigation before they make any judgments or decisions, but that was not always the case, sometimes they take what a group of TCNs say against one interpreter and according make their decision. But there was always a new recruit, and that was the main reason of marginalizing TCNs. There was more where they came from, simple as that. When the supply becomes more than demand, the product loses its value, unfortunately that applies to humans too.
There are 3 categories of interpreters
- Local interpreters – Iraqis, hardworking, educated and most ill treated individuals.
- TCN (Third Country Nationals), this was my category, most are people who are just trying to make a living and never complain, few were ass kissers, hustlers, don’t know shit and free riders, the competent ones were overlooked, and unappreciated, why and how?, don’t ask me, I left the job and I still didn’t find an answer for that.
- KBR – Kellogg Brown & Root Interpreters, They are probably the highest paid people in the whole place, these guys, I really admire them, they understood the system, worked as minimum as possible, mastered the art of do fuck all and get away with it, to be fair few of them were professionals and worked strictly based on their contracts, most spend more time on leave than actual work, and they do not go outside the base or on a convoy, taking risks is out of the question for them.
Local interpreters: (The LECs “Locally employed contractors” as everyone calls them)
Their case is typical case of human in need, they need the job to put food on the table, everybody knows that, and everyone is using that against them, they are overworked, always threatened to be fired for any wrong doing no matter how minor it may be.
I have made friends with some of the local interpreters, I was the probably the only TCN who made real friendship with the local interps., everyone mistrusts them, the army, the other interpreters, I mean everyone, but the truth is these individuals are highly intelligent, dedicated and very much educated. Most of them were English teachers or some kind of teachers before the war either at the university or high school level.
Each of them has a unique story, some of them even though their family members were killed or threatened to be killed because they worked with the coalition army, they kept doing their job and never complained, they live in constant fear, a lot of them left the job forcefully because they were fearful for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Some got killed after a year of leaving the job, some got killed while on the job, their stories are heartbreaking and no one is there to listen, few officers and soldiers sympathize with them but that is about it.
So much to say about them, and how they are treated by everyone, but I guess I don’t know where to begin and what story to tell, each has a story of why they took this job and what their experiences were, the only common thing among their stories is fear and harsh life with no hope for a better future.
I always wondered why the army recruited TCNs since there were so many educated Iraqis who could do a better job, know the culture and have better understanding of their own people’s mentality, I mean they could be just the people to do the job, but later I found out the reasons for that.
- First reason was high turnover among local interpreters due to fear for their lives or the low payment they were receiving.
- Second reason was (I am guessing and I probably this was true, as I was told by some Iraqis) distrust of the army for locals, they were seen a liability and security hazardous, besides there is also moral obligation towards these locals after the army leaves the country, they might have to take those with them, since their lives will be in danger, and the army possibly didn’t want that.
The alternative was to recruit TCNs, with no obligation whatsoever, paid them end of month salary and that is it, no other attachments, no pensions, no end of service compensation, all the army had to do is give them a month notice and end their contract anytime they feel like it with of course the usual one month notice policy to comply to UK labor policies just in case.
TCN (Third Country National) Interpreters
So much to tell about TCNs, they are from a different countries, some Arabs, and others non Arabs, they came from Somalia, Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Pakistan, Nepal and Gulf countries, some took the job for simply to make a living, other for adventure and experience, crazy as it seems adventure was my reason one for taking the job. All TCNs were recruited from Kuwait, they were people from other countries but reside in Kuwait.
TCNs were cheap and easy to find, most of them were average people, some with no education at all, not even a primary school, I sometimes felt they were hired on purpose knowing a lot of them were no good for the job, that way the budget was used properly and it was easy to control them, few of us were highly educated and were seen as trouble makers, because we argued and asked questions when we were neglected, one thing I really didn’t understand was, we were hired as interpreters, meaning doing only verbal interpretation, since our typing or any other relevant skills were not tested, but used as translators.
Only some of us were used as translators and paid as interpreters, all I did was translating documents, sometimes files and training materials all the time and I found out that translators were paid more than interpreters, and when I asked for an upgrade, I was simply ignored, even my supervisor wrote a letter to the Interpreters’ cell explaining that I was a translator not interpreter but he was ignored too.
I was most frustrated with the TCNs, few of us tried to organize them so that we ask better treatment but no use, and I wasn’t surprised, without skills or any sort of degree, they wouldn’t find a better job, it was life time opportunity for them, I almost left the job because of TCNs, I felt the profession was degraded because of some of these interpreters, if that is how I felt, imagine what would the educated local interpreters feel since they were getting paid 30% of what TCNs were getting paid!
I really never figured out what was going on with the British Army, was it just simple disorganization, or they just didn’t care what they were doing there, the good TCNs who didn’t complain were over utilized with translations and the good but trouble makers were send to insignificant places, bad ones were put in crucial offices and there were always problems and TCNs in general were blamed, I am sure the Army new it was their fault from the start, first they hired the wrong people due to their ineffective recruitment system, then got lucky getting some good ones but again making the mistake of putting the wrong ones in the right places and good ones in the wrong places. Then they wonder what went wrong.
To make it worse the army was dismissing their best TCN interpreters for various reasons, some TCNs knew they were good and were overconfident so they broke few rules and thought they could get away with it simply because the army had few good TCNs and thought they were indispensable, but apparently no one was indispensable, others were dismissed because they were complaining so much. There was also a grouping within TCNs each group trying to eliminate members of the other group just because they didn’t like them and informing the LSU (Labor Support Unit) about them and making fake allegations, sometimes accusing them with serious untrue allegations, LSU claims to do investigation before they make any judgments or decisions, but that was not always the case, sometimes they take what a group of TCNs say against one interpreter and according make their decision. But there was always a new recruit, and that was the main reason of marginalizing TCNs. There was more where they came from, simple as that. When the supply becomes more than demand, the product loses its value, unfortunately that applies to humans too.
Monday, March 24, 2008
East Timor
14 days now in Timor land or Timor-Leste (that is the country’s official name), by the way Leste means East in Portuguese language, English speaking people might prefer to call it East Timor.
I still have flashbacks of Basra and Tallil (Iraq), see I just came back from Iraq and supposedly this place would be heaven compare to Iraq, but so far I am not really sure. Iraq was fun, yes it is dangerous place and all that, but I had great friends there, and we shared good and bad times.
East Timor, land of coffee and something like that, I am still trying to discover the place. All I knew about this place prior to my arrival was conflicts, stone throwing and burning houses, I didn’t even know the capital is called Dili. I googled a lot before coming to Dili, but it seems people like to exaggerate when they write something about anything and post it on the internet, the place is not bad, people are friendly, though they seem to be very quite, easy going and stair at you as if you were an alien from another planet.
It could be a lonely place, even though it seems the whole world is here, AU and NZ army, and UN personnel, everywhere you go, you see UN civilians and Police, UN vehicles are seen all over Dili, the UN headquarters is called Obrigadu Brack which means “Thank you very much” in the local dialog, didn’t make sense to me, but hey everyone seems cool with it. At UN everyone is friendly and everyone is smiling all the time. I could get use to this, see in Iraq no one smiles for no reason, no one smiles at all, it is rare to see anyone smiling, and if somehow that happens and someone smiles to me, I would be like what the hell and go paranoid about it, ask myself all sorts of questions, “who is he? Does he know me? Where does he belong to? What the hell was that?” crazy shit haa?
Today is Sunday, I came to the office to do some email writing and try to find a constructive way to kill time, and I don’t even know what I did yesterday, that is how boring this place is to me for now. I am still exploring my options for things to do in Dili, people are telling me, lots of stuff to do, nice places to go and things to see, I will see about that.
It is a small world…
I met two guys from Australian army, had a chat with them, prior to this job I was working with the Australian army in Tallil (Iraq), apparently those two guys know the guys back in Iraq, they were even the same regiment, we talked a bit, took pictures, probably they will send these pictures to the guys in Iraq to say “what a small world” and have something to talk about, maybe I should do the same, since I have email addresses of some of the guys back in Iraq.
I think I will just go to my little room and watch some DVDs, I could be the only guy in this world who watched every single movie Hollywood produced; I am literally becoming a movie library, pick a movie name and there would be 99.9% chance that I have seen it.
It is almost 13:30H, I better go back to my room and see what movie I haven’t watched from the hundreds of DVDs I got from the market, maybe call home first, then go, yeah I think I will do that.
I still have flashbacks of Basra and Tallil (Iraq), see I just came back from Iraq and supposedly this place would be heaven compare to Iraq, but so far I am not really sure. Iraq was fun, yes it is dangerous place and all that, but I had great friends there, and we shared good and bad times.
East Timor, land of coffee and something like that, I am still trying to discover the place. All I knew about this place prior to my arrival was conflicts, stone throwing and burning houses, I didn’t even know the capital is called Dili. I googled a lot before coming to Dili, but it seems people like to exaggerate when they write something about anything and post it on the internet, the place is not bad, people are friendly, though they seem to be very quite, easy going and stair at you as if you were an alien from another planet.
It could be a lonely place, even though it seems the whole world is here, AU and NZ army, and UN personnel, everywhere you go, you see UN civilians and Police, UN vehicles are seen all over Dili, the UN headquarters is called Obrigadu Brack which means “Thank you very much” in the local dialog, didn’t make sense to me, but hey everyone seems cool with it. At UN everyone is friendly and everyone is smiling all the time. I could get use to this, see in Iraq no one smiles for no reason, no one smiles at all, it is rare to see anyone smiling, and if somehow that happens and someone smiles to me, I would be like what the hell and go paranoid about it, ask myself all sorts of questions, “who is he? Does he know me? Where does he belong to? What the hell was that?” crazy shit haa?
Today is Sunday, I came to the office to do some email writing and try to find a constructive way to kill time, and I don’t even know what I did yesterday, that is how boring this place is to me for now. I am still exploring my options for things to do in Dili, people are telling me, lots of stuff to do, nice places to go and things to see, I will see about that.
It is a small world…
I met two guys from Australian army, had a chat with them, prior to this job I was working with the Australian army in Tallil (Iraq), apparently those two guys know the guys back in Iraq, they were even the same regiment, we talked a bit, took pictures, probably they will send these pictures to the guys in Iraq to say “what a small world” and have something to talk about, maybe I should do the same, since I have email addresses of some of the guys back in Iraq.
I think I will just go to my little room and watch some DVDs, I could be the only guy in this world who watched every single movie Hollywood produced; I am literally becoming a movie library, pick a movie name and there would be 99.9% chance that I have seen it.
It is almost 13:30H, I better go back to my room and see what movie I haven’t watched from the hundreds of DVDs I got from the market, maybe call home first, then go, yeah I think I will do that.
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