Story filed 6-15-05

By Edward Lee Pitts
Military Affairs

CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq -- Iraqi translators working with the 278th Regimental Combat Team say they prefer life here now without Saddam Hussein even though insurgent attacks have made the country more dangerous.

"I have a better life now than under the old regime," said Magdy, a translator at Camp Caldwell from Khanaqin.

He and other translators said Iraq already has better schools, with such before-unheard-of technology as computers, open to more citizens than under the old regime. Translator Nawzad, also from Khanaqin, said that is providing more opportunities to the county's youth.

Under the old regime college graduates had to join the military for two years, he said.

Saad, a translator from Baqubah, said that under the old Iraqi army he netted the equivalent of just $3 a month. He said he had to pay his officer a bribe of about $25 a month out of his $28 army pay just so he could go home to work a job that paid $50 each month.

Now salaries have improved to between $100 and $500 a month for those lucky enough to have jobs, Nawzad said.

Magdy said the U.S. Army made mistakes by not sealing borders and should have been more controlling at first, as anarchy and looting occurred when the people did not know how to handle complete freedom.

That situation and allowing the Iraqis to go nearly four months without their own government after the invasion have led to the roadside bombings and other strikes that have killed thousands of Iraqis, Magdy said.

But the translators, who only go by one name for safety reasons, said more of the Arabic media are starting to showcase the good deeds of the U.S. troops. More civilians are starting to question the deaths of innocent people, they said.

The translators said their message to the American people back in the U.S. is to be patient.

"The Iraqi government can't do this without the American government," Magdy said.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

On the Web: Photos by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika of the 278th Regimental Combat Team are available on the Times Free Press Web site. Visit http://www.timesfreepress.com/kp.

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