WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

Several years ago, west suburban native Kirk Johnson, a former USAID official in Baghdad and Fallujah, received a call for help from a former colleague. Johnson’s colleague, Yaghdan Hameid, worked with him at USAID in 2005 and was receiving death threats in Iraq.

As the United States draws down its remaining troops in Iraq, the lives of thousands of Iraqis who worked with American forces, journalists and aid groups are in danger.

 We talk to an Iraqi translator who worked with the U.S. Army’s 1st Armored Division and with American trainers at the Baghdad Police Academy. In 2007, our guest was kidnapped and tortured.

 Chicagoan Yaghdan Hameid was the original inspiration behind Kirk Johnson's The List Project. After working as a program officer with USAID in Baghdad, Yaghdan realized his partnership with the U.S. government was putting his family's life in danger.

 Several years ago, west suburban native Kirk Johnson, a former USAID official in Baghdad and Fallujah, received a call for help from a former colleague. Johnson’s colleague, Yaghdan Hameid, worked with him at USAID in 2005 and was receiving death threats in Iraq.