This is how we repay them?

Mask Ban Upsets Iraqis Hired as U.S. Interpreters

Why do we always want to pretend like we know what is best for everyone? As if these Iraqi interpreters can't make these decisions themselves. Clearly these Iraqis are scared for their lives and feel these masks offer them at least some sense of security. Why would we take that away? Is this how we repay them for the invaluable service they have provided our military? By putting their lives in danger? What do we get from not allowing them to wear masks... especially if they are only providing interpretative services? Where's the upside to a decision like this? I just don't get it. Just because there is a steady stream of willing and able Iraqi interpreters (which is a given, considering the country has been decimated, people are unemployed, and need to feed their families), doesn't mean we should be so willing to put them in unnecessary danger.

From the Washington Post:

"It's a life-and-death issue for them," said Staff Sgt. Jeremy Ziegler, who works in Dora, a district in southern Baghdad. "I don't see anything wrong with them wearing a mask. Why risk the lives of those who work with us?"

An interpreter assigned to Ziegler's battalion was abducted at home, tortured and slain a few months before the mask ban was implemented, said Army Capt. Ryan Edwards, the company commander.

Although large extremist groups have been markedly weakened in recent months, smaller cells still target interpreters, he said.

"They want to target the big payoffs, and the terps are one of them," Edwards said.

A 24-year-old interpreter who uses the name Jack and is assigned to a U.S. military base in Rustamiyah, a neighborhood in eastern Baghdad, said he was devastated when his supervisor told him in September that he could no longer wear a mask.

During his first patrol without a mask, "some bad guys" recognized him, he said. The next time he went home on vacation, his terrified mother told him someone had shot dozens of rounds at the family's southern Baghdad house.