UPDATE: MG Hammond's Policy
I got in contact with a friend that just left MND-B and he said that Major General Jeffery Hammond, 4th I.D. Commander and MND-B commander implemented this policy back in September. My buddy said in SEPT when Hammond implemented the policy for Baghdad units, 20% of their 'terps quit that day. He said that LTC Stover gave his BN the same reasoning that he gave to the public (professional army excuse). Stover must be 4th I.D. PAO, I am assuming.
Not sure if this mask ban applies to all of Iraq, or if GEN Ordierno or LTG Austin has implemented it. But apparently it's been going on in Baghdad for months.
Face Masks for Iraqi Interpreters Banned
From George Packer's blog:
Quote:
Standing on a principle in the shape of a land mine, the U.S. military has banned Iraqi interpreters from wearing face masks. “We are a professional Army and professional units don’t conceal their identity by wearing masks,” Lieutenant Colonel Steve Stover, a military spokesman, wrote in an e-mail to the Post, whose account continued: “He expressed appreciation for the service and sacrifice of the interpreters but said those dissatisfied with the new policy ‘can seek alternative employment.’” LTC Stover was pleased to report that the contractor that hires interpreters is having no trouble meeting its quota.
I’m sorry, LTC Stover, but this is stupidity and callousness posing as rectitude. For years, Iraqis working with American units were allowed to hide their faces so that they could keep their heads on their necks. The new order has already led to firings and a significant number of resignations, as well as desperate measures—one interpreter smearing his face with mascara, another hoping that a new beard will keep his identity secret. This is the kind of order that headquarters dreams up and combat troops detest.
Exactly what code of conduct is being maintained here? Iraqis aren’t in the American chain of command. They don’t take an oath; they don’t fall under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. If they did, they would be given regulation uniforms. They wouldn’t be allowed to use aliases. They would be housed on bases rather than obliged to make the dangerous trip home every night. They would receive pensions, health insurance, and death benefits. When one of them gets killed, the military would hold a ceremony. The widow would receive a flag. A grateful nation would remember.
I’m guessing that the military has decided face masks are off message: the surge worked, so the “terps”—the most vulnerable targets in Iraq, and among the most prized—are safe. They’re not, and they never will be, which is why the State Department has finally begun to improve efforts to repatriate our Iraqi allies here. Meanwhile, the Pentagon suddenly seems determined to get them killed or laid-off back in Iraq—just when we were learning how to do things right.
This is a worrying sign, and not just for the interpreters. It suggests that as the U.S. pulls out of the neighborhoods and cities next year, as required by the new security agreement just approved by Iraq’s cabinet, the military and the Obama Administration will be tempted to conceal a situation that might well be rapidly deteriorating. Face masks save interpreters’ lives, but as a form of strategic communications during wartime they get people killed.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/
Ask and you shall recieve
Quote:
Originally Posted by
J Wolfsberger
Yes. In addition to putting his name in the post, I should probably have written it to cover every dolt who had a hand in making this policy.
http://pao.hood.army.mil/4ID/leaders...shipindex.html
http://pao.hood.army.mil/4ID/staff/staffindex.html
New Update from VoteVets.org: Congress Involved
According to Vet Voice, a project of VoteVets.org, Congress is now involved:
Quote:
Iraq Interpreter Mask Ban: Congress Gets Involved
by: Brandon Friedman
Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 02:07:59 AM EST
It's not just the troops, translators, and media who are furious over the move to ban Iraqi interpreters from wearing masks to conceal their identities. Now the U.S. Congress is getting involved:
Thirteen members of Congress and an association of interpreters this week urged the Pentagon to rescind a policy that prohibits interpreters who work with U.S. troops in Baghdad from wearing ski masks to conceal their identity.
The U.S. military command for the Baghdad region said it began enforcing the mask ban strictly in September because masked interpreters undermined the professional image the military strives to project. The military also said the sharp reduction in violence in Baghdad has made wearing masks unnecessary.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and 12 members of the House of Representatives on Thursday sent a letter to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates urging him to allow interpreters to wear masks.
"Members of Congress were dumbfounded," Wyden said in an interview yesterday. "The Pentagon's position defies common sense."
At least half a dozen major milblogs, one prestigious magazine, two newspapers, 13 members of Congress, and every Iraq veteran to whom I've spoken about the story think the policy is a careless, dumb idea. On the other side, so far I've heard a single guy--Army Lt. Col. Steve Stover--come out to defend it. So here's my question: Will anyone else at the Pentagon come out to publicly defend this flawed policy? Or are they just gonna leave Stover out there hanging--looking like the bad guy? Who in the Army actually supports this policy?
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do...3?diaryId=2230
I called and emailed my Senators (Roberts & Brownback-KS) to get on board with SEN Wyden.
I urge all to do the same, if you can.
Well said. Operating at a lower level
but having cumulatively several years of tactical command in combat, I always did what you suggest. I termed this "Professor White's Patent Policy of Selective Neglect."
To eliminate the negative and civilian connotations, this was re-named in the late 60s by The World's Greatest Major (then, later TWGLTC and TWGC *) as "AR 100-White, Selective Combat Compliance"
* As such he also assisted in development of AR 350-White, Training to Exceed Doctrinal Bounds.
Seriously -- You have to do what's right, that simple.