If we leave Iraq

Iraqi contractors want to come with us.

With pressure building in Washington for an American troop pullout, Iraqis who have worked closely with U.S. companies and military forces are begging their employers for assurances that they will be able to leave with them.

Why?

"When the Americans leave, the war will start, and they will kill all of us, all who worked with the Americans," he said.

A woman who has worked closely with the U.S. military said she was deeply worried about what will happen when the Americans leave.

"Who is going to protect us?" she asked during an interview near her home in downtown Baghdad.

When the Americans leave, all those who worked with them "must leave also," said another woman who has been forced to move to Jordan. She asked that her name not be used in order to protect her extended family still living in Baghdad.

For one former Special Forces operative who has worked closely with Iraqis for three years, any U.S. pullout that fails to protect Iraqi allies would bring unhappy memories of the final withdrawal 32 years ago from Vietnam.

"When we leave, all these people that helped us and fought for us will be hunted down and exterminated just like the Montagnards and South Vietnamese," he said in a telephone interview.

"In many ways, this is my second Vietnam," he said bitterly.