Iraqis Working For Us Live In Fear Afp

Juan Cole 06/12/2004

Iraqis working for the US Live in Fear

AFP continues its excellent tradition of covering Iraq from the ground up(in this case the eastern city of Baqubah) with a fine piece about the fear in which Iraqis live who work for the Americans. Many translators have been killed, and others are getting death threats. Many feel forced to live on US military bases. Local municipal and provincial officials, most of them put into power by the Americans or their proxies, are also receiving threats.

The danger extends, of course, to US civilian contractors. This report says that 39 employees of Kellog, Brown and Root have been killed in Iraq. It isn’t forestalling down on their luck Americans from signing up, but it is a remarkable statistic.

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page