working with interpreters

[Rex Brynen]

I'm not sure if someone posted it earlier, but this video very nicely highlights the critical role (and potential problems) of local interpreters in COIN operations.

Afghanistan: Lost in translation The Guardian, Thursday June 12 2008.

When the US 173rd Airborne's Charlie Company try to speak to a Pashtun elder, the gulf is so great even the interpreters have given up interpreting. John D McHugh reports

As you'll see from the video, unreliable interpretation causes the US team to miss valuable intelligence, lose their temper at a possibly cooperative village elder, and probably alienate the village in the process--while having many of their preconceived notions "confirmed."