What do you think?
Rate this book
The Interpreters
Language interpreters played a vital role in the recent US campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. These men served alongside American soldiers in parts of the world where doing so meant they could not go back home safely. They served with the promise of support, visas and better lives in the US and abroad after the fighting was over and for many, those promises went unfulfilled.
VICE News host Ben Anderson traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq to meet with several interpreters—to document the stories of their service and their struggle for justice firsthand.
VICE News host Ben Anderson traveled to Afghanistan and Iraq to meet with several interpreters—to document the stories of their service and their struggle for justice firsthand.
- GenresWarNonfiction
43 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 2, 2014
10 people are currently reading
73 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 26, 2015
Must read.
It's very short, sad account of those interpreters joined our unnecessary wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our soldiers and those help them, died, wounded with them. Their lives in those countries and what was promised to them. Read and cried. Last night Ben Anderson was at Charlie Rose show and immediately downloaded this free book. Let's help our soldiers to keep the promises they made.
It's very short, sad account of those interpreters joined our unnecessary wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our soldiers and those help them, died, wounded with them. Their lives in those countries and what was promised to them. Read and cried. Last night Ben Anderson was at Charlie Rose show and immediately downloaded this free book. Let's help our soldiers to keep the promises they made.
October 5, 2019
Link to my review: https://sierrakilobravo.wordpress.com...
Imagine being at war and fighting alongside your brothers in arms – eating, sleeping, bleeding, and killing. Then imagine how you would feel if a day came where they all went back home and you were left alone with your enemies, people who hated you with a seething rage and who wanted you and your family dead.
It sounds awful, like the plot set up for a bad movie, but this, sadly is what is happening to thousands of interpreters working for the US forces in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. They were promised visas, asylum, and safe passage, but for the majority of them they are being left in-country to face the Taliban and other ruthless groups bent on killing them for working with the Americans.
This is the basis for a book called The Interpreters by Ben Anderson. I have been a fan of Ben since way back when he made his two part documentary, Holidays in the Axis of Evil. Ben has a mountain of experience in war torn countries, and his time in Afghanistan and Iraq have brought him face to face with the issues described in his book. The book is a companion piece to a Vice News documentary that covers the same subject.
In the book we hear the horrific stories of some of the interpreters, and the things they have faced since the units they were attached to returned home to America. Despite the best efforts of their team mates, these men and their families are left facing terrifying peril as their visa applications get mired in governmental red tape. The stories are presented in a raw and powerful form, and the sections narrated by the author easily explain this complex issue and the subsequent results. While it is a heavy subject, it is well written, and honestly conveys the stories of these men and their families, as well as those back in America trying to get their buddies to safety.
It is an excellent read, and you will find yourself with your mouth open in shock as the accounts are retold.
Imagine being at war and fighting alongside your brothers in arms – eating, sleeping, bleeding, and killing. Then imagine how you would feel if a day came where they all went back home and you were left alone with your enemies, people who hated you with a seething rage and who wanted you and your family dead.
It sounds awful, like the plot set up for a bad movie, but this, sadly is what is happening to thousands of interpreters working for the US forces in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. They were promised visas, asylum, and safe passage, but for the majority of them they are being left in-country to face the Taliban and other ruthless groups bent on killing them for working with the Americans.
This is the basis for a book called The Interpreters by Ben Anderson. I have been a fan of Ben since way back when he made his two part documentary, Holidays in the Axis of Evil. Ben has a mountain of experience in war torn countries, and his time in Afghanistan and Iraq have brought him face to face with the issues described in his book. The book is a companion piece to a Vice News documentary that covers the same subject.
In the book we hear the horrific stories of some of the interpreters, and the things they have faced since the units they were attached to returned home to America. Despite the best efforts of their team mates, these men and their families are left facing terrifying peril as their visa applications get mired in governmental red tape. The stories are presented in a raw and powerful form, and the sections narrated by the author easily explain this complex issue and the subsequent results. While it is a heavy subject, it is well written, and honestly conveys the stories of these men and their families, as well as those back in America trying to get their buddies to safety.
It is an excellent read, and you will find yourself with your mouth open in shock as the accounts are retold.
May 26, 2017
How soon we forget the commitment of others
This people who support Jason achieving our bike gives but alienate themselves faith in their loans cultures should get our full support
This people who support Jason achieving our bike gives but alienate themselves faith in their loans cultures should get our full support
June 24, 2015
I read this e-book hoping for specific information about interpreters, what they saw/did during the war, and the problems they have faced since the US draw-down began. I was disappointed.
The book is mostly disembodied quotes from interpreters, with very little information about the individuals involved, and what they had endured or accomplished before the draw-down began. Near the end there is one detailed account about how a retired officer was able to help his former interpreter acquire a visa, with a few stories about the interpreter's service.
Ultimately, this e-book feels more like an activist pamphlet than a non-fiction book. While Anderson's cause is an important one, I think the book would be more informative and politically effective if it spent more time talking about specific interpreters, with disembodied quotes and statistics providing context instead of forming the bulk of the text.
Nonetheless, thank you Ben Anderson for going out, finding former interpreters all over the world, and writing this.
The book is mostly disembodied quotes from interpreters, with very little information about the individuals involved, and what they had endured or accomplished before the draw-down began. Near the end there is one detailed account about how a retired officer was able to help his former interpreter acquire a visa, with a few stories about the interpreter's service.
Ultimately, this e-book feels more like an activist pamphlet than a non-fiction book. While Anderson's cause is an important one, I think the book would be more informative and politically effective if it spent more time talking about specific interpreters, with disembodied quotes and statistics providing context instead of forming the bulk of the text.
Nonetheless, thank you Ben Anderson for going out, finding former interpreters all over the world, and writing this.
January 3, 2016
Afghanistan and Iraq - this book tells the stories of Afghan interpreters who have been left behind in Afghanistan after serving with the US military. Their lives are endangered because of their service and the US's efforts to bring them safely to this country have been woefully lacking. Because of my daughter-in-law, Kandyce's work with No One Left Behind (http://nooneleft.org/), I have been made aware of this problem and wanted to learn more. This book is a good, somewhat short summary of the problem and includes interviews with interpreters and their families still languishing in fear and danger in Afghanistan, as well as stories of some who have fled under dangerous circumstances to Turkey, Greece, and other European countries (picture dangerously overcrowded boats and ruthless human smugglers), and a few stories of others who have been successfully resettled in the US.
February 5, 2016
Difficult book to read.
As a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, this book hits very close to home. I worked, lived, ate with and fought side by side with our terps daily. They risked everything and were lied to. They were an enabling force, without them we could have done very little. I am ashamed of my government.
As a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, this book hits very close to home. I worked, lived, ate with and fought side by side with our terps daily. They risked everything and were lied to. They were an enabling force, without them we could have done very little. I am ashamed of my government.
June 12, 2015
Interesting and sad. Glad I know more about it but wonder what there is to do about such things and why it hasn't been covered in any popular format recently. Seems like a very monumental problem, which speaks volumes about the very important decisions and awareness behind wars and conflict.
Read
April 3, 2017As usual for Ben Anderson, thorough, and damning of US foreign policy. More of the betrayal of the weak by the strong.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews