[Canadian] Defence Minister Peter MacKay has ordered officials to look into allegations that innocent Afghans may have been sent to jail because of botched translations by Canadian military interpreters.MacKay's statement in the House of Commons on Monday came as a counter-insurgency expert said U.S. forces have been plagued with the same concerns.
[...]
"We're willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure ice cream and steak is there," [Ret. Marine Cpl Thomas] Hammes said in an interview from Washington. "And I would trade all of that for my entire tour if I could have one decent translator.
"Many times I'd trade body armour for a translator."
[...]
"We very often don't know what our translators are saying … I never knew what the hell was going on in Iraq, but at least I was aware I didn't know," he said.
[...]
Hammes said the credibility of the interpreters is paramount to the success of the mission. If they're making mistakes it reflects badly in the community you're trying to influence.
Putting it mildly.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are moderated. There may be some delay before your comment is published. It all depends on how much time M has in the day. But please comment!