U.S. intelligence and defense agencies remains critically
short of Arabic speakers and faces the threat of failure in the reconstruction of Iraq as a result.
"We are desperately in need of Arabic speakers," Kenneth Pollack, a
researcher with the Washington-based Brookings Institution and a former CIA
official, said. "There just aren't enough in the United States of America,
there just aren't enough in the U.S. government to do what is going to be
necessary in Iraq. Talking to the people."
U.S. officials said a drive that began 18 months ago for Arabic speakers
has not filled the requirements of the U.S. military or intelligence
services. They said the shortfall is felt most in Iraq, where there is a
dearth of U.S. soldiers who can communicate in Arabic.
In a seminar earlier last month, Pollack warned that the United States
would be unable to succeed in the reconstruction and stabilization of Iraq
without a dialogue with its people.
"The Americans in particular but also the Europeans who participated in
all of these different reconstruction episodes throughout the last 15
years," Pollack said, "what they will say again and again is, it is great to
have a lovely Swedish cop who knows international law and is there because
he wants to be and wants to help the people of Iraq, but if he can't speak
Arabic he's not doing anyone any good."
Officials said the search for Arabic speakers has been hampered by
security and other regulations of hiring in the U.S. defense and
intelligence community. They acknowledge that many naturalized citizens from
Arabic countries have been turned down.
Moreover, they said, some government agencies, particularly the FBI
appear adverse to U.S. nationals who learned their Arabic in the Middle
East. Instead, these agencies prefer hiring those who studied and remained
in the United States.
The CIA and FBI have hired hundreds of Arabic speakers over the year,
officials said. But they said the greatest demand for Arabic speakers is in
the Defense Department and the U.S. military.
