Long delays for visas mean thousands of former interpreters for US remain in Iraq, afraid of assassination.
Tens of thousands of Iraqis who helped US forces are worried about their departure [GALLO/GETTY] BAGHDAD – It was supposed to be a simple deal: Work with the American occupation here for one year, and earn a visa to resettle in the United States. John put in 27 months as a linguist and adviser, both with the military and with a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) attached to the US embassy in Baghdad. Last November, midway through his tenure with the Americans, he applied for a visa under a special State Department programme. Thirteen months later, he is still waiting for an answer, and worries that he might be killed before he gets one: The Iraqi government has been gathering details about people who worked with the US military, and John fears that information could be leaked to armed groups; and he has received several anonymous, harassing phone calls from people who know about his work history. “It’s a fact to these people, we betrayed our country, anyone who worked with the Americans,” he said in an interview. “They think we don’t even deserve to be Iraqi.” Huge backlogs As the last US troops depart Iraq this month, they leave behind thousands of former colleagues, like John, who thought they would have emigrated by now. (John is not his real name, of course; he asked to remain anonymous, both to protect his safety in Iraq and his visa application in the United States.) More than 140,000 Iraqis worked with the United States during the nearly nine-year war and occupation., and tens of thousands have since applied for immigration visas in the United States. The US issued only a handful in the early years of the war. A law passed in 2008 created the Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) programme, which was supposed to expedite the process: It allocated 25,000 visas over five years for Iraqis who worked with Americans and face an “ongoing threat” in their home country. But four years later, only about 7,000 of those visas have been issued, according to the State Department, with more than 30,000 applications pending a decision. The process has become especially slow this year, after the Obama administration started requiring more detailed background checks for visa applicants. Just nine people received visas under the SIV programme during the entire month of April. “We’re concerned about anybody who’s at risk in this country,” said James Jeffrey, the US ambassador here. “We have programmes that allow some of them to travel to the US, and huge backlogs in these programmes, that’s true… a lot of it is the processing back in Washington.” Iraqis who worked with the US say those risks are escalating now that the last American troops are preparing to leave. “All of the people around me know that I was working with the Americans,” said Mark, another former PRT adviser. “Anybody who was against the US troops, I feel that I am in danger from them.” The average wait for the SIV programme is now more than nine months, even for those Iraqis with clean records and good recommendations. John’s visa application paperwork, which was reviewed by Al Jazeera, includes a glowing letter from his supervisor, who described him as a “reliable professional with great integrity”. A separate “threat statement” outlined the dangers he faces if he remains in Iraq, noting that he has received several threats from members of Jaish al-Mahdi, a Shia militia. “These insurgent groups and some of the local Iraqi population consider [him] a traitor,” the statement said. 'This is crazy' And so they wait, thousands of them, often in hiding. The Iraqi newspaper Sabah al-Jadid reported last month that many former interpreters were throwing away any paperwork that identifies them as such. Of a half-dozen interpreters contacted for this story, only two were willing to discuss their situation. “For nine months I am jobless, waiting for that visa. I have nothing to do,” Mark said. Others have fled the country: More than 18,000 Iraqis who applied for the SIV programme are currently in neighbouring Syria and Jordan, according to the United Nations. Mark, who worked for more than two years with reconstruction teams in Baghdad and Anbar provinces, has been waiting nearly ten months for a visa; he was interviewed for the SIV programme in March, and has heard little from the embassy since. “They said we should wait at least six months, but this is crazy,” he said. “All the people around me know that I was working with the Americans. We feel that we are in danger from anyone who was against the US troops.” Neither the Iraqi nor American governments have kept detailed statistics, but more than 300 Iraqis who worked with the US have been killed since the war began. They are targeted by a variety of armed groups, both Sunni and Shia. John said he has received several calls this year from people with detailed information – not just that he worked for the Americans, but where he worked, and what he advised them on. “They’ll call and say, ‘hi, is this John from the PRT?’” but using his real name, John said. “And they’ll say, we need you to come up to Tarmiya,” a neighbourhood where his unit used to work. He suspects that someone sold the information to an armed group. Provincial reconstruction teams used to spend heavily – buying greenhouses for farmers, for example – but that money has dried up as the teams closed down. “So after we’re done… then okay, there’s not any more interest in the relationship, so they give it [the information] to whoever will pay,” he said. “I don’t feel safe… I’m afraid of these groups, and the Iraqi government, I don’t trust at all.”
The last convoy of US soldiers crosses the border from Iraq into Kuwait, ending the eight-year long Iraq War. 
The last convoy of US soldiers crossed the border from Iraq into Kuwait on Sunday, effectively bringing the controversial eight-year long Iraq War to an end. The final convoy, containing around a hundred US military vehicles with five hundred troops, exited Iraq at 0738  (0438 ) Sunday.

Private First Class Martin Lamb described the departure as "a good feeling ... knowing this is going to be the last mission out of here". The event was "part of history, you know — we're the last ones out," according to Lamb.

The Iraq War, which commenced in 2003 on the pretext of Iraq possessing , which later turned out to be false, was responsible for toppling the regime of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and introducing a democratic government within Iraq. In the aftermath of Hussein's downfall, a violent, religion-based conflict broke out between those of  faith and  communities, reaching its peak in 2006. The following year, a large number of US troops were sent into Iraq; the number of sectarian and insurgent attacks subsequently declined.

The Iraq War involved a maximum of over 170,000 US troops, stationed in Iraq at more than 500 bases. Tens of thousands to over 100,000 Iraqi citizens and close to 4,500 US troops were killed as a result of the war. The financial cost of the Iraq War was almost 1 trillion (767 billion or 638 billion) to the .

US presence in Iraq has been reduced to 157 soldiers in charge of military training at  and a minor base of US marines. The US federal government reportedly intended to retain a minor counter-terrorism presence in Iraq, as well as the continuation of military training in the country. However, negotiations between US government representatives and Iraqi officials were unsuccessful, as they failed to reach an agreement on legal matters, such as troop immunity.

In 2008, the  had committed to withdrawing all US troops from Iraq by the end of 2011, a movement which was announced by his successor and current US president Barack Obama in October 2011. Obama signified the conclusion of the war with Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister of Iraq, earlier this month. In a speech in North Carolina at , Obama stated that the country US troops were leaving is now "sovereign, stable and self-reliant".

US and Kuwaiti soldiers close the gate between Kuwait and Iraq, after the last military convoys passed through, signaling the end of the Iraq War. 
Reaction to the US government's decision has been mixed. According to '''' opinion polls in the United States indicate that a majority of Americans believe the war lasted longer than it should have done. Obama himself had opposed the war when he ran for president and vowed to end it. News agencies report Iraqis glad to see the US leave, but concerned for the future.

'''' reports that Iraqis also have mixed feelings, such as Safa, a 26-year old baker using a pseudonym, who said "I am proud — all Iraqis should be proud, like all those whose country has been freed. The Americans toppled Saddam, but our lives since then have gone backward." He also said, "The situation will only improve if politicians work on fighting corruption and adopt reforms."

A 50-year-old mother calling herself Umm Mohammed said, "I don't think we can ever forgive the Americans for what they did to us, from killings to terrorism. Those people Americans think only about themselves, and not about the consequences of their actions."

Mohammed Abdelamir, 60, said "We must all cooperate and work to improve the economy, the society, and begin rebuilding, and not fight because we are seeing that some politicians have already begun putting a stick in the wheel."

Other Iraqis who worked for Americans are fearful over their departure, fearing they may be killed. John, a pseudonym for one such Iraqi, said to ''Al-Jazeera'', "It’s a fact to these people, we betrayed our country, anyone who worked with the Americans. They think we don’t even deserve to be Iraqi."

Mark, another such Iraqi, said "All the people around me know that I was working with the Americans. We feel that we are in danger from anyone who was against the US troops." John and Mark both worked for  (PRT) in Iraq. Both men have applied for Special Immigrant Visas (SIV) which the US government created in 2008 for Iraqis who have worked for US forces.

However, there is an immense backlog for applicants, as over 30,000 await a decision. So far, only 7,000 SIV visas have been issued. John has been waiting for a visa for over a year, Mark has been waiting nine months since applying in March. Mark said, "They said we should wait at least six months, but this is crazy". And, "For nine months I am jobless, waiting for that visa. I have nothing to do."