Risk Perception and Its Management: Lessons from Iraqi Linguistic Mediators for the Australian Defence Force in the Iraq War (2003–2009)

Abstract

Acting as an interpreter, translator, or a linguist for foreign military organisations is a risky and deadly profession in conflict zones or armed conflicts, a context that can endanger life, health, and safety. This chapter examines the risk Defence linguists experienced in wartime, with a focus on locally engaged employees (LEEs) from Iraq. Drawing on oral history as a research method, I examine: risks as perceived and experienced, Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Iraqi linguistic mediators’(ILMs') responses to risks, outcomes, and the lessons that were learned. The lessons identified show that lack of collective risk management occurred not because the ADF failed to appreciate that risks might occur, but rather because ADF policymakers or higher-level decision-makers failed to develop or implement clear risk-management policies for locally employed linguistic mediators as a guide for their military personnel.

This chapter draws on my current doctoral research in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics at the School of Languages, Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics, Faculty of Arts, Monash University, Australia, titled Iraqi local interpreters for the Australian Defence Force in the war zone: From linguistic competence to cultural mediation. The thesis examines the oral history of role, status, and positionality of Iraqi Arabic-English interpreters who worked for the Australian Defence Force (ADF ) to make recommendations for future ADF operational language planning. In particular I would like to thank Major General Paul McLachlan, Dr Howard Manns, Professor Alistair Thomson, and Brigadier Ian Langford for their assistance.