On this veteran-focused segment, Dave and his guests discuss Veteran leadership, service, stories, and transition. Today, our host, Dave MacCutcheon, spoke with Ali Almrayatee.
Ali Amrayatee
President of the Iraq War Interpreters Legacy Foundation
Website Address: https://www.linkedin.com/company/iraq-war-interpreters-legacy-foundation/home/
Short company description:
The Iraq War Interpreters Legacy Foundation (IWILF) is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to documenting, preserving, and advancing public understanding of the service, experiences, and contributions of Iraqi interpreters who worked alongside U.S. and Coalition forces and with American political, diplomatic, humanitarian, and development missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003–2011). Through oral histories, a digital historical archive, research, educational initiatives, and public exhibitions, IWILF seeks to preserve an essential but underdocumented dimension of the Iraq War, contributing to peace operations, military and conflict studies, and a deeper understanding of past engagements to help inform future U.S. and international engagements.
What was the biggest obstacle you had to overcome in your business?
The greatest challenge has been earning the trust of Iraqi interpreters to share their firsthand experiences while protecting their identities and personal security, whether they now live in the United States or remain in Iraq. Documenting this history requires more than collecting testimony; it requires establishing a credible process that participants can trust. My approach is to build that confidence through clear procedures, carefully prepared documentation, responsible identity-protection measures, and trusted individuals who can help establish relationships with other interpreters. The challenge is to create the conditions in which people feel safe enough to contribute their knowledge before this firsthand history is lost.
How did you get started in your field of work?
I began this work from the recognition that the history of the Iraq War remains incomplete without a systematic record of the Iraqi interpreters who helped bridge the language and cultural divide between American and Coalition personnel and Iraqi society. Their experiences offer a perspective that cannot be fully recovered from official documents or conventional media coverage alone.
These interpreters worked at the intersection of two societies. They witnessed conversations, misunderstandings, negotiations, and encounters through which American personnel sought to understand Iraqi realities and Iraqis sought to understand American intentions. Their experiences can help illuminate not only what happened, but also how communication, cultural understanding, and local knowledge influenced the course of engagement.
I established the Iraq War Interpreters Legacy Foundation to give this history a permanent institutional home. The objective is to move beyond fragmented accounts and create a credible historical resource through oral histories, archival preservation, research, and education.
My conviction that this work was necessary grew from my own professional and academic experience. During the years I spent working with the Iraqi and U.S. governments, I came to recognize the importance of the people who operated between the two sides and the knowledge they brought to American engagement in Iraq. Later, during my master’s studies, I recognized how much important knowledge and detail about the Iraq War remained undocumented or insufficiently examined. These experiences reinforced my belief that the interpreters’ perspectives should be preserved not only as part of the historical record, but also as a source of insight for the future.
My long-term goal is to help U.S. decision-makers reconsider the strategic value of Iraqi interpreters as trusted local partners in future engagement in Iraq. American policy and priorities can change across administrations, but the need for reliable local knowledge, cultural understanding, and trusted relationships remains. Too often, the people who helped bridge the divide between American institutions and Iraqi society have been overlooked in broader assessments of U.S. engagement. IWILF seeks to recover their experiences and preserve the lessons they offer, helping future decision-makers better understand the value of these partnerships and make more informed decisions. By documenting this history, we can honor those who served while ensuring their knowledge contributes to a more informed approach to future American engagement.
How do you define success?
I define success by whether we preserve something of lasting historical and public value that future generations would otherwise lose. For IWILF, success means ensuring that Iraqi interpreters are recognized as an integral part of the history of the Iraq War and that their firsthand knowledge becomes accessible to veterans, researchers, educators, policymakers, and future generations.
Beyond preservation, I want IWILF’s work to deepen understanding of how language, culture, local knowledge, and trusted partnerships influence military and diplomatic engagement. If the evidence we preserve helps decision-makers understand what happened in Iraq more fully, improves the preparation of future personnel, and informs future military and peace operations, then the Foundation will have achieved something far greater than creating an archive. It will have turned overlooked experience into lasting public knowledge.
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