“Your interpreter is way more important than your weapon,” confides a U.S. army commander in a New York Times article about the interpreters who assist U.S. troops in Afghanistan. With a weapon, he says, you can only defend yourself. With an interpreter, you can command hundreds of Afghan soldiers.

Army personnel repeatedly report that interpreters are essential to the success of overseas missions, not only as a means of communication with local people, but as cultural guides. Winning over the local population is key to the success of a counterinsurgency mission.

But, although interpreters are vital members of the team and granted access to top secret information, they are not always treated as equals. They are often scorned or disrespected simply for being “different.”

Interpreters interviewed for the NYTimes article reported violations such as sexual harassment, insults and medical negligence, not to mention more subtle mistreatment. For example, many interpreters face threats of violence and death by their own Afghan community members for supporting American troops. Interpreters sometimes petition for U.S. residency to protect themselves and their families from these threats, but their requests are often ignored.

The author, Joshua Foust, posits the following in conclusion:

In winning hearts and minds, how we treat Afghans as individuals matters more than how many Taliban we kill or how many roads we build. If we cannot treat our military interpreters with basic respect, why should Afghan civilians trust us to help them remake their nation?

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