Working Iraqis lie to stay alive

BAGHDAD: Sometimes George says he drives a cab. Other times he passes himself off as an Agriculture Ministry employee. He feels that anything is safer than the truth, that he’s a translator for the US military.

The 33-year-old Iraqi is among thousands who resort to disguises and subterfuges, who endure white knuckle commutes through potentially lethal roadblocks, just to make a living. George is the name he got from his American employer. To reveal his real one could be his death. “It’s bad to lie to people, but the situation is very bad,” he says. “I don’t want to lose my head.”

His wife has tried to persuade him to quit, but he stays on the job because he feels his work — helping the Americans to avoid language misunderstandings — is important. Besides, his salary of $900 to  $1,050 is about 10 times the monthly average.

For the young woman who calls herself Ismaeel, her father’s name, even a minor inconvenience can be a big one. Like the time the helicopter flying her back to Baghdad from an out of town job was late. Her family thought she worked for an Internet cafe. How would she explain the delay?  “It’s not a normal life,” she said. “It’s a very hard situation we suffer from. I hope it will pass and everything will be fine. We’ll see.”

Being a Sunni Arab living in northern Baghdad, she could be a target of Shiites, the rival Muslim group, or fellow Sunnis who would see her as a traitor because she works for the US military. She varies her commute to make sure she isn’t followed to the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the US and British embassies and the Iraqi government offices. To avoid drawing attention, she wears a head scarf and cumbersome cloak.

In her office, she switches to jeans.  “You face a lot of people every day and you don’t know who’s your enemy,” she said. “You can’t trust anyone. It’s hard to start a relationship with anybody these days. You depend on your old friends.”

Ismaeel, who keeps her full name secret, worked as an administrative assistant at the Industry Ministry during Saddam Hussein’s regime. She said she let her mother and two siblings in on the secret of her new job, but not her father because he tends to gossip.

About two years ago her colleague, an ambitious young woman who despite many warnings refused to hide her long, dark hair or take other precautions, was shot to death by insurgents who followed her to work.

Most Iraqis have grown used to car bombs at markets, mosques and restaurants, and gunmen who set up fake checkpoints.