A Conversation With An Ex-Marine

[Felix_Nietzsche]

While playing poker last Saturday, I sat next to an ex-Marine who had served in Iraq. He was sent to the govt run language school to learn Arabic. He had some interesting stories.The language school classifies languages into 5 categories with level 5 being the hardest. Arabic, English, and Chinese are in the level 5 category.

When he graduated from the language school he had about a child's level of Arab proficency. On one of his first assignments he was sent to translate between several senior Marine Corps offciers and local Shieks. The highly educated Marine officers spoke very wordy and eloquent messages, this poor marine with a child's level of Arabic skill was compelled to translate their messages into very simple and primitive Arabic. Then the Sheiks spoke very learned and eloquent Arabic to him and he could only translate a very simple translation to his superiors. Neither group knew that their communications were being heavily pruned to match their translators skill level. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

He told me stories where while on patrol in the Iraqi streets, hoards of iraqi kids would swarm him. He said these "little [censored]" would stick their fingers into the trigger guards trying to shoot their guns. He had a M203 grenade launcher on his rifle and they were trying to fire a grenade which would have sailed 300 meters in the air and landed on some poor slob's house and exploded. During one such encounter these little brats stole his knife...
http://world.guns.ru/grenade/gl07-e.htm

He told me stories where the USA sends pallets of $20 bills into Iraq to pay the Iraqi pensioners. The idea is if these people lose their pensions, they will turn to banditry or the insurgency.

He told another story where a fellow translator was questioning a suspected insurgent. The purpose of the interogation was to decide whether to send him to prison or to free him. They started off with the basic questions like "Where are you from?" The supect said "USA". They called him a lair. Then he says, "Canada". Then he says, "England". Etc... Each time he makes up a new country and the interogators get more and more angry. Finally they lose patience and send him to prison. The man could only speak Arabic so obviously he was not from the USA, UK, Canada, France, etc... Well it turns out the translators screwed up. The phrase, "Where are you from?" is VERY close to the phrase "Where Am I from?" The man thought the translator was asking him to guess the nationality of his captors. The man kept getting more and more frustrated and eventually broke down and cried. They sent him to prison. Whooops! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

He said he had an offer to make $170K a year as a translator in Iraq but he turned it down. He had an offer to work for his father's company and felt their was little future as a tranlator. Besides, he conceded he really did not have a talent for the Arab language.....

Oh.....and during our friendly conversation he tried to bluff me twice. His bluffs were easily readable and I called him down both times.

[andyfox]

Felix,

Doesn't this lend credence to the conclusion that conservatives' faith that, while our government screws everything up domestically, our military does a fantastic job, is chemerical?

Good job on the bluff catching!

[Felix_Nietzsche]

Conservatives believe in small govt because they believe the free market will out perform govt everytime. Since govt workers do not have a free market incentive, they are never compelled to be top performers.....ergo lazy. Another quick story: I was sold a car to an Indian man that worked for the federal govt. 5 minutes into our conversation he said, "Never take a govt job. If you want to get a better job in the private sector, employers will think you are lazy and won't hire you". He bought my car. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Anyway, the US military is BY FAR the most efficient govt organization but they do have their faults. In this case they:
1. Failed to screen out people with a talent for languages to go to the language schools.
2. Failed to adquately train their translators.

In their defense, there are a shortage of translators so they may have felt it is better to have two half-ass translators than to churn out one good translators....although the poor man sent to prison would disagree...

Perhaps the govt should close down their language schools and outsource this to the private sector.....

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

175k? what are these private firms doing in iraq that they can burn money like that? i am sure there are tons of people in this world who will learn arabic for a fraction of that.

[Ineedaride2]

If only the most skilled translators weren't gay.

[Felix_Nietzsche]

An Iranian shape-charge IEDs have killed lots of translators. More risk...more pay.
The pay is $75K for being a Arab-English translator and $100K bonus per year for working in Iraq.

[iron81]

[ QUOTE ]
175k? what are these private firms doing in iraq that they can burn money like that? i am sure there are tons of people in this world who will learn arabic for a fraction of that.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, but most non-Americans can't get high level security clearances. And as Felix said, there is a shortage of Arabic-English translators. Military and civilians do employ many Iraqi translators.

[ QUOTE ]
He told me stories where the USA sends pallets of $20 bills into Iraq to pay the Iraqi pensioners. The idea is if these people lose their pensions, they will turn to banditry or the insurgency.

[/ QUOTE ]
I heard about this as well, except to fund general Iraqi government operations.

[in48092]

To get a job as a translator in Iraq you need to take a standardised language test. If htis guy really did only have the language capacity of a child there's no way he could have landed said job in Iraq.

[andyfox]

Why would the Defense Dept., which I believe is the biggest most unwieldy department of the federal gov't., be more efficient than any other dept.?

[MuresanForMVP]

"Former" Marine. No such thing as an ex-Marine. Honest mistake.