The Iraq War and Arab specialists in the US government
My hope is that these are isolated incidents (and I have been assured that they are), but there seem to be an awful lot of
them. My own experience in this area is that as a speaker of several Middle-Eastern languages, I have tried for the better
part of 2 years now to "get in" and offer these language skills that might be of some use here at home and abroad. "Getting
in" seems to be more of an art than a science.
As an example: currently, the FBI tests for a particular language that is "in high demand" only once a year, and If current
events are any indication of future need, a level of bureaucracy this thick is is ludicrous. This is before you get to the
cumbersome (but wholly necessary) security and background checks.
RH: One possibility os that Americans who speak Arabic might be thought too pro-Arab and therefore unreliable. I would
be grateful if Gordon Jackson would tell us how Arabic is doing at the Armed Forces Language School in Monterey,
California.
Ronald Hilton - 7/5/03
The WAIS webmaster, Steve Margulies, has lived in Israel and the Middle East; he speaks Hebrew and Arabic. He
writes: "I watch and read reports daily of (what appear to be) the serious problems US troops run into dealing with the Iraqi
civilian populace. These problems seem to be due to a lack of linguists accompanying troops on the ground and a general
lack of knowledge of local customs and history, and Arab customs in particular.
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