BAGHDAD — Iraqis who interpret for Baghdad-based units fear that a new policy that prohibits them from hiding their faces behind masks could cost them their lives.

Multi-National Division–Baghdad rules instituted at the end of September have barred all employees from concealing their identities. The decision reflects the increasing security gains in the city and a growing sense of normalcy in the area, said Maj. Mark Cheadle, an MND-B spokesman.

"We don’t want to present an unprofessional image when Baghdad forces are operating," Cheadle said. "It lends a sense of the old, the sectarian, the wall."

The military uses both American and Iraqi citizens as interpreters. Many of the Iraqi interpreters take great pains to hide their identity to prevent reprisals when they return home on their off days.

Iraqi interpreters use aliases and are encouraged not to disclose their real names. Most ask photographers not to take pictures of them. Others lie about having a job outside the city where they live.

Masks are one more crucial step to ensure that fellow Iraqis don’t see that they are working with coalition forces.

"Robin," a Shiite interpreter in Baghdad, explained that Shiite groups like the Mahdi Army want to kill him because they fear he is giving Shiite secrets to the coalition. Sunni groups like al-Qaida in Iraq want to kill him just for helping the coalition.

He’s lost two friends and fellow interpreters in 2½ years — both when they were off duty. One was killed at home. The other was kidnapped and is presumed dead.

Robin translates in an area where he once worked in his normal life. He has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the streets and stores. But he also occasionally runs into people he knows. He’d never been afraid, he said, because he could hide confidently behind his mask. That’s not the case anymore.

"If they catch me, they’ll kill me," he said.

"Mark," who has been an interpreter for four years, conceded that he doesn’t always wear a mask. He sometimes goes without it even though he hails from Sadr City, a Shiite stronghold. His uncle caught him without it once, though, and offered a stern rebuke.

"Hey, I see you. Maybe the bad guys will see you, too," Mark recalled his uncle saying.

The policy isn’t completely new; Baghdad units tried to ban masks earlier in the war between 2005 and 2007. Cheadle said that decision was an attempt to force progress. This time around, the order reflects real progress which leaders can see through the information, or "atmospherics," collected every day.

"We have taken a huge turn from what looked like a spiral down to failure," he said. "When it comes down to it, it’s not that big of a story because it’s happened before."

More recently, some leaders have encouraged their interpreters to remove their masks at certain high-profile events and meetings with key leaders as a sign of trust.

At a September detainee release ceremony, for example, a company commander asked a masked interpreter to wait in a Humvee and instead took an interpreter who had no problem translating in the open.

Yet, Mark said even being careful to whom you reveal yourself can be dangerous. He and American soldiers met repeatedly with one trusted leader in Salman Pak two years ago.

Mark stayed in the area as a new unit replaced those soldiers. The new unit eventually arrested the trusted leader for collaborating with the insurgents.

"He knew our names and faces because we trusted him," he said.

As much progress as the interpreters have seen, they insist that it is still risky to reveal their identities.

"We know the security situation is better now, but we cannot guarantee there are no bad guys right now," Mark said.

Cheadle is adamant that no interpreters will be forced to work without a mask. If they feel uncomfortable, they are welcome to move to an area where they feel safer — even if it means leaving MND-B.

"At no time would we put any of our employees at unnecessary risk," he said. "We absolutely value their contribution."

Some ground-level units do not strictly enforce the rule. One lieutenant said asking his interpreter not to wear a mask is like asking a soldier not to wear body armor.

Interpreters are still figuring out how they’ll respond. Quite a few sense the same progress Cheadle sees and already feel comfortable working without masks.

Mark, for example, does not like the new rule, but he also doesn’t plan to quit. He’s close to getting his American citizenship and can see the progress Cheadle is talking about, although he still wishes he had the option to cover himself up.

"We live in an extreme situation," Mark said. "These people [the insurgents], they have no mercy."