Iraqi interpreter moves to U.S. with G.I.'s help

updated 1:17 p.m. ET Jan. 27, 2008

SALEM, Ore. - When he answered his phone in Baghdad, Kamal Murad, an interpreter for U.S. troops, smelled trouble.

“How was your day?” the voice asked Murad.

Iraqi insurgents got Murad’s number from the cell phone of an interpreter they had tortured and killed. “We know who you are,” the caller said. “You’re next.”

“I told them no, no, I’m not working. I didn’t tell them any truth about me. But they said, ’No, you’re lying.’ They had the details about my number, my home, everything.”

Murad and his family, now in Salem, no longer live in fear.

A phone call now could be from Jason Faler, an Arabic-speaking Oregon National Guard captain and Iraq vet who knew the right people and got Murad, who was his interpreter, Murad’s wife and three young children out in September.

Faler and Murad developed a deep bond in Iraq, one that continues.

For weeks the Murads lived in the Salem home of Faler’s parents. Iraqi interpreters who get to the United States stay at least temporarily with the soldiers they worked with or their families more often than not, Faler said.

Murad’s wife, Bushara, has developed a close friendship with Faler’s wife Rita, who is Lebanese-Egyptian.

Bureaucratic ordeal
Kamal Murad is among a small contingent of Iraqi interpreters who have been able to get the special visas required for them to move to the United States. They face a careful screening process requiring them to fill out bewildering forms in English and get the signature of an American general or admiral to vouch for them. Faler, a military intelligence officer, helped the Murads through the bureaucracy.

Except for a pot of thick Turkish coffee on the stove, there is nothing in the Murads’ apartment to suggest Iraq. Some donated VCR tapes for the children, ages 2 to 7, favor Walt Disney.

At the apartment, Murad reflects on the dangers he faced in Iraq and on his desperate efforts to get to America.

When Murad went on missions with the Americans he at first wore a mask to conceal his identity. “Then I stopped wearing the mask. I didn’t feel I was doing anything bad. I felt I was doing something good,” he said.

Murad remembers one interpreter who was discovered: “They used drills to make many holes in his body then they murdered him and tossed his body in the trash. He dreamed of coming to the United States.”

Murad decided it was time to leave Iraq. Faler made the necessary contacts for him. But it would be expensive. Most Iraqi interpreters spend all they have or can borrow to get to the U.S., Faler said, typically $10,000 to $18,000, depending on delays and other problems.

“I sold our home for a very cheap price,” Murad said. “I sold my furniture, everything. I got some help from my brother, a little bit of money, I borrowed some from my mom.”

He and his family got their visas at the U.S. Embassy in Syria, then flew to Jordan, and then to the United States.

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