verbatim

My merriness started after I knew the coalition coming to liberate Iraq after half a century with Saddam left me as a semi-human triturated by sadness and swallowed by poorness.

My first decision was to obey my patriotic duty and honor principles towards my country. So I didn't hesitate to accept the first mission with coalition as an interpreter,then translator and supervisor

Militias start spry supported by internal and external hidden hands; my workfellows in their previous stories summarized the circumstances sufficiently, the militias described us traitors, I never give up or withdraw, they threw threaten letters in my way, my car and my house; they murdered my partner and my brother in law. I still zealous and wasn't stay at the same place for two nights and always shout at them ((Damn on you losers... I'm serving my country)).

Once I realized that they are coming close to me. I bought an expensive visa with limited period to a safe country, absconded there, hurry to the US embassy with all confidence and met a citizen lady at the reception.

Lady: Can I help you sir?
Matt: Yes, I'm here to apply on a program for the Iraqis translators who had work with US forces to get immigration to the US.
Lady: (Smiled to me slightingly and a little sarcasm) Do you have any thing approve …..

Matt: Of course (Maim) I have many, here you are; certificate, payment form, authorization doc., payment form again, recomm….
Lady: OK ENOUGH!! .. (Smile again) that's enough, sir, please have a seat.

In his own words, "Patrick", a very senior translator, writes about the worsening security, he has encountered since 2003.

Dear friends

My story is neither unique nor including fancy imagination.

It is a story of an Iraqi citizen who started working with Coalition in the middle of April 2003 as interpreter.

My story start after 2003.

I was just finished my compulsory service in the army. I was an engineer without a job, and I have a mother and sister and a wife and my two years deaf daughter to subsist, when I received a call from my friend, M.

He Saied (do you like to work as an interpreter in KBR company); I Saied, I am ready to do anything to feed my family.

Dear Sir,

I just would like to check out if you have recieved my emails …

I would like please sir to hear any news from you because Im living a very horrible life, hiding and doing no job to feed my family (my wife and three little children).

I hired "Jeremy" - not his real name - as a translator in April 2003.

To assess candidate translators' understanding of English, I asked them to write, both in Arabic and in English, their feelings about the Coalition's actions, and to express their hopes for the future of Iraq.

In his own words, these are Jeremy's hopes from four and a half years ago.