Third Country National Interpreter

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.