kvlundgren

Amman, Jordan

2009-12-29T15:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted here in quite a while, due to the fact I am now a graduate student, involved in several activities, and am still on a quest to help manage the Iraqi Refugee Crisis.

I am going to Amman, Jordan in just two days with the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP), where we will be doing a fact-finding mission on the Iraqi Refugee Crisis from the perspective of several NGOs.

In June, I will be returning to Amman for a year to conduct my own research on the U.S.'s role in building a new way forward on managing the Iraqi Refugee Crisis.

I hope everyone is well and exactly where they want to be.

St. Petersburg Times

2009-08-23T18:07:00.001-07:00

An article about Iraqi Refugees in dire straits and the Checkpoint One Foundation's quest to assist them: http://www.tampabay.com/news/humaninterest/article1017533.ece

We know the battle ahead will be long....

2009-02-18T16:31:00.000-08:00

I have been very busy at work recently so apologizes for not updating in a long time!

Things I have been working on recently and things to come include:

1. Working on six cases of Iraqis trying to get Special Immigrant Visas. Some cases are going well, and some are being continually halted by out of date policies and bureaucratic red-tape. Then frustration ensues....

2. Working on fundraising for the foundation with the help of a very dedicated volunteer. (Thanks, Ginger)!

3. Trying to pass policies that will improve the process for Iraqis applying for SIVs.

4. The Checkpoint One Foundation will be featured in "American Legion" magazine next month. With millions of subscribers, this is very exciting news!

5. I am planning a personal trip to Jordan in order to work with Iraqi refugees. I will hopefully be going in May with a group of law students from Georgetown. Wish me luck!

More to come later..........

"Radio Times"

2009-01-19T19:03:00.001-08:00

The problems facing US-Allied Iraqi Refugees has been featured in a segment on the program "Radio Times" (WHYY in Philadelphia).

http://www.whyy.org/podcast/011409_110630.mp3

Weekend America on NPR 1/10/2009

2009-01-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

The Checkpoint One Foundation was featured nationally on NPR. Check it out!

There is Much on This Land Worth Living For.....

2009-01-14T09:42:00.000-08:00

I took this photo over three years ago in Bethlehem, Palestine. I never realized how important it would end up being to me.

I have tried as hard as I could to make this blog about my work, strictly, with The Checkpoint One Foundation. I started it to keep track of my first "real" job working in the human rights field. However, as the death toll in Gaza reaches over 1,000 people (over 1/3 being children) I feel I can no longer stay silent. To stay silent on this issue would be denying the biggest part of myself.

Most people probably know I used to live in Palestine. I went there to work with Palestinian refugees and came home stronger, wiser and who. I am. today. I was adopted by a Palestinian family and have never forgotten the time I spent there. Palestine was the first Arabic speaking country I visited, the first refugee group I ever read about and eventually worked with. I vowed this was it. I was going to do something or die trying.

Now almost three years later I sit here and can only read about my friends (yes, Palestinians are my friends) being ripped apart. The Israeli government denies a humanitarian crisis is occurring, aid workers are not being allowed inside the Gaza strip ( only 7 miles wide and 26 miles long) and whole families (generations of people) are gone. The worst part is we (the US) have the capacity and leverage to stop this madness. Israel signed a 25 billion dollar arms deal with the US in 2007. Only 5 billion dollars has been used thus far. Under this arms deal we gave Israel stipulations on how to use these weapons including: not using them against civilians or using them offensively. They are clearly in violation of both of these things. Israel also started using White Phosphorus ( a chemical which burns your skin to the bone and is against International Law) against Palestinians. THIS NEEDS TO STOP. 1/2 of the people in Gaza are children, i.e. the next generation's peace makers, who are at the point where they are deciding to join Hamas or fight for their country diplomatically. What do you think they are going to choose? Israel may stop rockets for a few months, but in order to achieve long lasting peace there needs to be a foundation of human rights and security for both sides.

Enough is enough. The Israeli government is acting with no convictions, morals and respect for other people. Unfortunately, they are not the only one. I can not tell you how sick I am of these qualities in governments and in people. I am not perfect. I know my failures and my limitations but I will not let someone tell me you should treat other people this way. Call me idealistic, stupid or naive, but I promise to my friends, family, those I disagree with and mostly to myself: I will act with convictions, morals and respect for your life and my own. I also promise to NEVER and I mean NEVER give up on fighting for those who can't fight for themselves. I don't know what my next move is but this is not just talk.

IT IS TIME TO ACT!

Jordan 'reconsidering Israeli Ties' from Al Jazeera

2009-01-04T22:47:00.000-08:00

I, like other people in the world, have been waiting DAYS for the Arab states to stand up to Israel. I know this isn't much, but it is a start.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/01/2009154531941584.html

A Personal Letter of Thanks to our 2008 Supporters

2009-01-04T14:18:00.000-08:00

http://cponefoundation.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/CPOF_2008_Year-End_Letter_to_Groundspring_Donors_v4.363170041.pdf

Public Broadcasting

2008-12-29T17:27:00.000-08:00

http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/kplu/news.newsmain?action=article&ARTICLE_ID=1449472&sectionID=13

My boss, his interpreter and The Checkpoint One Foundation were featured on a radio segment for public broadcasting in Washington. The segment is going to be featured nationwide on the program "Weekend America" which is on NPR. More to come.....

From The Oregonian 12/10/08

2008-12-12T11:32:00.000-08:00

The article can be read here: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/12/salem_native_capt_jason_faler.html

Concealed ID

2008-12-06T13:20:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that, thanks to Senator Wyden, the Iraq translators' mask ban has been dropped (from BBC news). This is amazing! Thank you everyone!

By Humphrey Hawksley
BBC News, Baghdad

The Pentagon has rescinded a controversial decision that banned Iraqi interpreters working for US troops in Baghdad from protecting their identities by wearing ski-masks.

The ban was meant to reflect the improved security situation - in which interpreters were no longer afraid of retaliation. But that is not the case.

"If anyone of my neighbours see me with this uniform I will get killed," said an interpreter working with the US 4-10 Cavalry Regiment, which patrols a large part of western Baghdad.

"Maybe they will kill my family. That's the issue", he added.

About 30 interpreters work with the 300 troops from a large camp that used to be a luxury shopping mall.

To be a successful linguist you have to act when you translate, to make the other side understand if they are serious or not serious

Zeeman, an Iraqi translator

Another interpreter, who only wanted to be known as Zeeman, said he had worked for too many years against too many different militia to feel safe.

"I am married and I have a family and we have to remember that these forces are leaving one day and we are staying here."

He explained further: "If these people here see the same faces as they see with the Americans and American is not here…?" The question was left hanging, with no doubt as to his fear.

Some 300 interpreters have been killed during the war in Iraq, and they are seen as a crucial link between the US forces and Iraqi communities trying to recover from the years of violence.

"It would have been tough to get where we are today without our interpreters," said the regiment commander, Colonel Monty Willoughby.

"We know that they get spooked and scared, and we try to protect their identity as much as possible."

'At grave risk'

Out on patrol with Zeeman, we called first at a local Iraqi police station where he translated an intelligence briefing.

We then headed to a empty building lot nearby where it was thought weapons might be hidden.

He apologised to the residents as our Humvees blocked the street and during the search - that yielded nothing - he liaised between the police and the US soldiers.

Finally, he introduced the patrol commander to Iraqi soldiers manning traffic checkpoints.

"To be a successful linguist you have to act when you translate - act exactly what's going on - to make the other side understand if they are sad, if they are happy, if they are serious or not serious."

US officials at first tried to defend the Pentagon ruling, saying interpreters could seek alternative employment if they were unhappy with it.

Interpreting through interrogation in Ramadi, Iraq

But the issue was taken up by Democratic Senator Ron Wyden. He sent a Congressional petition to the US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.

"Preventing interpreters from concealing their identities puts their lives, as well as the lives of their families at grave risk," said the petition letter.

It went on: "The heightened threat could also reduce the numbers of interpreters available in Iraq, due to death and resignations, and put American service members and their missions in danger."

Col Willoughby said the mask ban had now been lifted and that decisions could be made at an operational level.

"We ask them not to wear masks," he said. "But troop commanders can make that determination."

Zeeman does not give his real name and does not want his face filmed.

He has worked without a mask for some time, realising that it helps the hearts and minds campaign. "But the decision needs to be in my hands, not in the hands of someone in Washington who knows nothing about how we work.

WORLD NEWS TONIGHT.

2008-11-24T17:34:00.000-08:00

The Checkpoint One Foundation is being featured on World News Tonight right now. If you miss it, don't worry, you can read the accompanying article here:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/WN/WoodruffReports/Story?id=6290550&page=2

The Army's Foolish and Cruel Policy

2008-11-20T13:51:00.000-08:00

Here is an article that was printed in The Oregonian about the army's decision to forbid Iraqi interpreters from disguising their faces while working. The foundation I work for is mentioned in the article and we are working hard with Senator Wyden to get the decision overturned.

11/18/08
The Oregonian

I n a triumph of bureaucratic small-mindedness over human empathy and common sense, the Army now forbids Iraqi interpreters from wearing masks to conceal their faces while working with U.S. troops. Iraqi interpreters continue to receive threats, and some are killed, because they collaborate with Americans.

The only rationale expressed for this new policy seems to be the flippant statement of Army spokesman Lt. Col. Steve Stover, who e-mailed The Washington Post to say: "We are a professional Army and professional units don't conceal their identity by wearing masks." If the interpreters don't like it, he suggested, they "can seek alternative employment."

How is this hypocritical? Let us count the ways:

U.S. troops are allowed to protect themselves in a variety of ways, most obviously by wearing armor and carrying weapons. Yet most of them cannot communicate with Iraq's citizens without the help of an unarmed interpreter. The "terps" are the essential ingredient to making American policy work in Iraq.

The U.S. counterinsurgency strategy, adopted in early 2007, was intended to send U.S. forces out into the Iraqi population to protect civilians and win their confidence. Yet, when it comes to interpreters, the Army seems indifferent to their personal safety.

Immigration policy has evolved to a point that seems to recognize the dangers faced by Iraqi interpreters. While the process remains mad- deningly slow and cumbersome, the U.S. has taken steps to make it easier for Iraqis who have worked for the military to escape the hazards of Iraq and immigrate to the U.S. How does that square with a policy to make them go about their work with their faces uncovered?

Talk to any Iraqi interpreter who has worked for U.S. troops and you'll hear stories of personal bravery that will humble you. Among the interpreters who have worked alongside Oregon soldiers, at least one was kidnapped and killed, one was threatened until he quit, and others have moved out of their homes to avoid drawing attention to their families. Those who don't live on a military base leave their homes at different times of day and take circuitous routes home to lessen the chances of being targeted. Almost all wore masks to conceal their faces.

An estimated 300 interpreters have been killed since 2003, many because they were specifically targeted for execution by people who consider cooperation with Americans to be an act of betrayal. And while violence in Iraq overall has declined, nobody suggests that all the old tensions and resentments have disappeared, or that a culture of shame, revenge and violence has gone away.

Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden and others, including Oregon's own Checkpoint One Foundation, a nonprofit, are protesting the Army's unconscionable new policy. Here's hoping that the outcry is loud enough to cause somebody with an ounce of compassion to slap his forehead and reverse the ban on letting Iraqis use a few inches of fabric to protect their identities.

Helping Those Who Helped US.

2008-11-14T11:54:00.001-08:00

"A world worth keeping sleeps ill with the torn unmended."

2008-11-13T15:54:00.000-08:00

" I accept my failure and my limitations. It would be the height of hubris if I did not. But what I will not accept is those who tell us that it doesn't matter, that other things are more important, that we ought to offer a hand to anguish only in the narrowest of circumstance.

The reason we ought offer that hand in the first place: because to look on human agony and consistently remain unmoved is to be dead in all the ways that truly matter, dead to the mystery of pulse and breath, dead to the gifts of grace and kindness, dead to the fragility of Creation."

"If we live in the world with honor, we must not let misery go unmet."

--William F. Schulz