Guantanamo Bay Translator Indicted!
Arabic Translator Spying, Aiding Enemy!
Army Chaplain Mishandling Classified Information!
And there was this--
Army Dismisses Nine Linguists--Six Arabic Specialists--
BECAUSE THEY ARE GAY!
In the twelve-year runup to Shock and Awe, nobody ever gave more than minimal and grudging consideration to actually communicating with Iraquis. After the attacks of September 11, the US government began aggressively to recruit Arabic speakers. Someone suddenly thought language itself might be important in our interface with ancient Arab cultures. But. Not that important...
Here's a sampler:
FACT: ...some of the same [brutal officials of Saddam Hussein's information ministry] now work as interpreters for Western news bureaus....
--John F. Burns / New York Times / November16, 2003
FACT: Few American civilian and military ''experts'' on the Middle East speak Arabic (and even fewer read it, which is more difficult).
FACT: Russian diplomats [as seen on Al Jazeera] speak mellifluous classical Arabic--while American diplomats typically speak through a translator.
FACT: ''It's fairly common for an Iraqi to tell an American he understands something when he doesn't,'' said an Iraqi-American businessman with recent experience in Baghdad.
--John Tierney /New York Times / October 22, 2003
FACT: Guantanamo Bay translator is indicted; allegedly lies about not understanding the meaning of the term "secret" with regard to classified documents and about not receiving a security briefing.
FACT: Another Arabic translator, Air Force Senior Airman Ahmad I. al-Halabi, is charged with espionage and aiding the enemy.
FACT: A Muslim chaplain, Army Capt. Yousef Yee, has been charged with disobeying orders and for improperly handling classified information.
--The Associated Press / November 12, 2003
FACT: Between October 2001 and November 2002, nine Army linguists, including six trained in Arabic, were dismissed from the military because they are gay. Alastair Gamble, a former Army specialist who was among those dismissed, said that he and another linguist applied for other federal jobs where they could use their language skills in the war on terrorism....[N]either was hired.
--Editorial Desk, New York Times / November 16, 2002
WHERE IS A WISE MAN TO LEAD US?
Ciao for nao.
11/16/2003 02:48:02 AM
