I’m surprised you didn’t mention that in the aftermath of 9/11, the arab-american community was laregely alienated by a massive detention and deportation operation. Hard feelings towards the government (especially this government) remain strong. Those who before 9/11 would have been willing to undergo security checks to help the cause are now either hesitant, or outright hostile to the idea.
Comment by LaurenceB — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 7:40 am
There is also the case of Sibel Edmons to consider. She was a contract translator for the FBI who started compaining about shoddy translations and a huge backlog of untranslated documents and was quickly fired.
The FBI later admitted that Edmonds’ accusations were correct.
I am know that this case–which didn’t get much mainstream media play–is well known in the Middle Eastern Studies community, who trains a lot of linguists. This may cause potential candidates for FBI jobs to think twice before applying.
Comment by Ratoe — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 9:49 am
This is only one of several management failures perpetrated by the Bush administration. Other items on the list are FEMA, the security of chemical plants, the reconstruction of Afganistan and Iraq, and last – but most critical – the military manpower situation. This MBA president manages the government as badly as his other attempts at leadership.
Comment by Lindata — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 10:12 am
Still, aren’t you Bushies glad the army is getting rid of Arab-language experts who are gay?
Comment by Kevin Allison — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 10:24 am
Damn Kevin you stole my punch line.
Comment by Roderick — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 10:41 am
Yeah, there are a couple obstacles:
(1) Arabic in particular, as one of the world’s hardest languages (along with Korean, Japanese, and Chinese) requires significant time in a country to learn. This, of course, is a major black mark on a background test. In order to be fluent you also must speak two languages — modern standard (the language of newspapers, some TV, academic discourse) and local dialects that vary greatly depending on country and region. Again, this also contributes to the need to spend years living in a country.
(2) It’s expensive. If you want people to learn these languages, you need to start handing out grants of $25-$50K so people can spend one to two years MINIMUM living abroad. If you want natural instead of naturalized citizens who speak fluently this is how you get them. And Bush, et al, simply aren’t serious about the War on Terror — or they’d pony up the $$$. How can anyone not see having sufficient arabic linguists available as a major security issue?
(3) George Bush would tell the military to screw themselves when they discharge an Arabic linguist because he’s gay. He, in particular, made a choice — do we keep a trained linguist in great demand or kick out the homos? Well, actions reveal his true preferences.
earl
Comment by Earl — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 12:19 pm
FBI Agents Still Lacking Arabic Skills
WaPo’s Dan Eggers reports that the FBI has made virtually no progress in getting its agents, who are theoretically at the pointy end of the domestic counterterrorism spear, training in Arabic.
Five years after Arab terrorists attacked the United …
[...] And then there’s this from Poliblog, which kind of answers my last question above: So, I guess if one doesn’t want the NSA to know what you are saying when they listen in on your international calls, your best bet is to speak in Arabic. Lovely. [...]
I’m surprised you didn’t mention that in the aftermath of 9/11, the arab-american community was laregely alienated by a massive detention and deportation operation. Hard feelings towards the government (especially this government) remain strong. Those who before 9/11 would have been willing to undergo security checks to help the cause are now either hesitant, or outright hostile to the idea.
Comment by LaurenceB — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 7:40 am
There is also the case of Sibel Edmons to consider. She was a contract translator for the FBI who started compaining about shoddy translations and a huge backlog of untranslated documents and was quickly fired.
The FBI later admitted that Edmonds’ accusations were correct.
I am know that this case–which didn’t get much mainstream media play–is well known in the Middle Eastern Studies community, who trains a lot of linguists. This may cause potential candidates for FBI jobs to think twice before applying.
Comment by Ratoe — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 9:49 am
This is only one of several management failures perpetrated by the Bush administration. Other items on the list are FEMA, the security of chemical plants, the reconstruction of Afganistan and Iraq, and last – but most critical – the military manpower situation. This MBA president manages the government as badly as his other attempts at leadership.
Comment by Lindata — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 10:12 am
Still, aren’t you Bushies glad the army is getting rid of Arab-language experts who are gay?
Comment by Kevin Allison — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 10:24 am
Damn Kevin you stole my punch line.
Comment by Roderick — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 10:41 am
Yeah, there are a couple obstacles:
(1) Arabic in particular, as one of the world’s hardest languages (along with Korean, Japanese, and Chinese) requires significant time in a country to learn. This, of course, is a major black mark on a background test. In order to be fluent you also must speak two languages — modern standard (the language of newspapers, some TV, academic discourse) and local dialects that vary greatly depending on country and region. Again, this also contributes to the need to spend years living in a country.
(2) It’s expensive. If you want people to learn these languages, you need to start handing out grants of $25-$50K so people can spend one to two years MINIMUM living abroad. If you want natural instead of naturalized citizens who speak fluently this is how you get them. And Bush, et al, simply aren’t serious about the War on Terror — or they’d pony up the $$$. How can anyone not see having sufficient arabic linguists available as a major security issue?
(3) George Bush would tell the military to screw themselves when they discharge an Arabic linguist because he’s gay. He, in particular, made a choice — do we keep a trained linguist in great demand or kick out the homos? Well, actions reveal his true preferences.
earl
Comment by Earl — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 12:19 pm
FBI Agents Still Lacking Arabic Skills
WaPo’s Dan Eggers reports that the FBI has made virtually no progress in getting its agents, who are theoretically at the pointy end of the domestic counterterrorism spear, training in Arabic.
Five years after Arab terrorists attacked the United …
Trackback by Outside The Beltway | OTB — Wednesday, October 11, 2024 @ 2:49 pm
[...] And then there’s this from Poliblog, which kind of answers my last question above: So, I guess if one doesn’t want the NSA to know what you are saying when they listen in on your international calls, your best bet is to speak in Arabic. Lovely. [...]
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