Lost in translation?

The Defence department will apparently investigate allegations that Afghans may have been wrongfully detained and handed over to Afghan authorities. A former language and cultural advisor to the Canadian forces told Canadian Press he saw at least two innocent people labelled Taliban supporters because Afghan-Canadian translators misunderstood what was being said. A retired U.S. marine colonel says translation is an ongoing problem in military missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We’re willing to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure ice cream and steak is there," Thomas Hammes says. "And I would trade all of that for my entire tour if I could have one decent translator. Many times I’d trade body armour for a translator."

CBC News