.Iraqi Aides Hope for New Life in America
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) - Ali Qassim has three pieces of shrapnel lodged in his left eye and metal shards scattered elsewhere in his body.
Lingering in a private rest home in Jordan, he believes the wounds from his service with the U.S. military in Iraq entitle him to a fresh start in America, where doctors and donations might be able to restore his eyesight.
The 23-year-old Iraqi interpreter has pinned high hopes on a new U.S. special resettlement program that will make it easier for Iraqis working for Americans in Iraq to get U.S. visas without a referral from the U.N. refugee agency.
Advocacy and lawmakers have criticized Washington's record of admitting Iraqis into the United States. They say the Bush administration has a moral obligation to Iraqis - especially those who have worked with U.S. troops - but only a tiny fraction have made it into America.
In January, President Bush signed the Defense Authorization Bill, allowing up to 5,000 Iraqis to receive special immigrant visas each year for the next five years. It requires applicants to have worked for the U.S. government or American organizations, including aid groups and security firms, in Iraq for at least a year and be under threat or fear persecution. The program would also include families of the interpreters and contractors.
Even though the new bill is a tenfold increase to the 500 figure for 2006 and 2007 - based on the special immigration program for translators approved by Congress in 2005 - it still faces obstacles. The State Department and Homeland Security have said they are establishing regulations and procedures for the new legislation that have yet to be implemented.
Qassim, a Shiite from the southern city of Hilla, was accompanying Marines on a foot patrol in August 2006 when a roadside bomb struck.
A U.S. soldier injured in the blast was promptly evacuated to Germany for medical treatment, while Qassim was moved from one Iraqi hospital to another before ending up in Jordan.
Several anonymous death threats over the phone, he says, made going back to Iraq "out of the question."
His Jordanian doctor, who would not give his name because of fears of retribution, said he has treated some 240 Iraqis who worked with Americans in Iraq in the past five years. At the moment, he has a dozen patients, including amputees and those maimed from roadside bomb blasts.
Iraqis working for Americans in their country not only face the same dangers as U.S. troops - scores have been killed or assassinated by militants - but are also shunned by many of their countrymen as traitors or collaborators.
"We translators and others who were associated with American troops in Iraq are legitimate targets for the terrorists and Islamists," said Ala'a Mohammed, another Iraqi translator who lives in Jordan and says he cannot go home. "In their eyes, we are collaborators and spies. God knows who would kill us once we return."
Mohammed, a Sunni Muslim from Baghdad, was recruited by the San Diego-based Titan Corporation to work with U.S. troops. The firm recently completed a five-year, $4.6 billion Pentagon contract to provide linguists to U.S. troops in Iraq.
Titan's press office said more than 250 Iraqi interpreters have been killed since the beginning of the war. Most were assassinated on "home leave" - when they left U.S. bases to visit their families.
Nicknamed "Smith" by the U.S. soldiers he befriended, Mohammed said the American troops persuaded him to leave Iraq to escape the fate of his two uncles. Both were killed because of their services to U.S. troops.
In Jordan, which along with Syria hosts the bulk of more than 2 million Iraqi refugees who have left their nation since 2003, life for Qassim and Mohammed is uneasy.
The kingdom says hosting the Iraqis costs $1.7 billion annually, burdening Jordan's fragile health, water and education sectors.
Philip Frayne, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Amman, said the 5,000 quota for Iraqi interpreters and assistants will be "different and separate" from admissions for Iraqi refugees.
Last year, the U.S. admitted 1,608 Iraqi refugees into the country.
The State Department said it issued 1,495 special immigrant visas for Iraqi translators and their families for the period throughout the fiscal year 2007.
Mohammed hopes he won't have to wait long to join their ranks.
"I am so eager to join my other colleagues who have already made it to the States," he said. "I chat with them everyday, and I have other friends in Iraq who can hardly wait to do the same."
MyWay
Lingering in a private rest home in Jordan, he believes the wounds from his service with the U.S. military in Iraq entitle him to a fresh start in America, where doctors and donations might be able to restore his eyesight.
The 23-year-old Iraqi interpreter has pinned high hopes on a new U.S. special resettlement program that will make it easier for Iraqis working for Americans in Iraq to get U.S. visas without a referral from the U.N. refugee agency.
Advocacy and lawmakers have criticized Washington's record of admitting Iraqis into the United States. They say the Bush administration has a moral obligation to Iraqis - especially those who have worked with U.S. troops - but only a tiny fraction have made it into America.
In January, President Bush signed the Defense Authorization Bill, allowing up to 5,000 Iraqis to receive special immigrant visas each year for the next five years. It requires applicants to have worked for the U.S. government or American organizations, including aid groups and security firms, in Iraq for at least a year and be under threat or fear persecution. The program would also include families of the interpreters and contractors.
Even though the new bill is a tenfold increase to the 500 figure for 2006 and 2007 - based on the special immigration program for translators approved by Congress in 2005 - it still faces obstacles. The State Department and Homeland Security have said they are establishing regulations and procedures for the new legislation that have yet to be implemented.
Qassim, a Shiite from the southern city of Hilla, was accompanying Marines on a foot patrol in August 2006 when a roadside bomb struck.
A U.S. soldier injured in the blast was promptly evacuated to Germany for medical treatment, while Qassim was moved from one Iraqi hospital to another before ending up in Jordan.
Several anonymous death threats over the phone, he says, made going back to Iraq "out of the question."
His Jordanian doctor, who would not give his name because of fears of retribution, said he has treated some 240 Iraqis who worked with Americans in Iraq in the past five years. At the moment, he has a dozen patients, including amputees and those maimed from roadside bomb blasts.
Iraqis working for Americans in their country not only face the same dangers as U.S. troops - scores have been killed or assassinated by militants - but are also shunned by many of their countrymen as traitors or collaborators.
"We translators and others who were associated with American troops in Iraq are legitimate targets for the terrorists and Islamists," said Ala'a Mohammed, another Iraqi translator who lives in Jordan and says he cannot go home. "In their eyes, we are collaborators and spies. God knows who would kill us once we return."
Mohammed, a Sunni Muslim from Baghdad, was recruited by the San Diego-based Titan Corporation to work with U.S. troops. The firm recently completed a five-year, $4.6 billion Pentagon contract to provide linguists to U.S. troops in Iraq.
Titan's press office said more than 250 Iraqi interpreters have been killed since the beginning of the war. Most were assassinated on "home leave" - when they left U.S. bases to visit their families.
Nicknamed "Smith" by the U.S. soldiers he befriended, Mohammed said the American troops persuaded him to leave Iraq to escape the fate of his two uncles. Both were killed because of their services to U.S. troops.
In Jordan, which along with Syria hosts the bulk of more than 2 million Iraqi refugees who have left their nation since 2003, life for Qassim and Mohammed is uneasy.
The kingdom says hosting the Iraqis costs $1.7 billion annually, burdening Jordan's fragile health, water and education sectors.
Philip Frayne, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Amman, said the 5,000 quota for Iraqi interpreters and assistants will be "different and separate" from admissions for Iraqi refugees.
Last year, the U.S. admitted 1,608 Iraqi refugees into the country.
The State Department said it issued 1,495 special immigrant visas for Iraqi translators and their families for the period throughout the fiscal year 2007.
Mohammed hopes he won't have to wait long to join their ranks.
"I am so eager to join my other colleagues who have already made it to the States," he said. "I chat with them everyday, and I have other friends in Iraq who can hardly wait to do the same."
MyWay
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