The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad employs 1,000 people, of which 33 speak Arabic. And only six of them speak Arabic fluently. Throughout the intelligence community, the pressure to quickly translate intercepted Arabic messages is intense, but agencies and the military lack qualified and well-trained linguists.
With this in mind, one of the more obvious recommendations from the Iraq Study Group yesterday was the suggestion that the Bush administration “accord the highest possible priority” to language training. To which officials everywhere responded with a collective, “Duh.”
The White House, however, had its own tack. Tony Snow, unwilling to concede that the ISG was even remotely critical of the administration, had an interesting response to the issue.
Q: [The ISG report] says the U.S. intelligence community “still does not understand very well either the insurgency in Iraq or the role of militias.”
MR. SNOW: That is part of a section that talks about the fact that there — it recommends more Arabic speakers. It suggests the need for better and more robust intelligence. And that’s something that —
Q: So that’s fairly critical of the administration.
MR. SNOW: Well, I don’t know — Bret, as you know, as a former Pentagon correspondent, the Pentagon has been trying to address these. But you don’t snap your fingers and have the Arabic speakers you need overnight.
Actually, the Bush gang is in luck. If they’re willing to concede that they need Arabic linguists to effectively combat terrorism, and they’re anxious to have Arabic speakers “overnight” to meet a pressing national security need, the president can, almost literally, snap his fingers and make it happen.
In fact, as it turns out, there are several dozen well-trained, patriotic linguists, very proficient in Arabic, who are anxious to serve their country and help prevent terrorist attacks. They just happen to be the same linguists the U.S. government got rid of because they’re gay.
[T]he Pentagon continues to dismiss trained linguists — people whose skills are desperately needed in Iraq and elsewhere around the world — for being gay. In fact, newly obtained data from the Department of Defense reveals that these firings were far more widespread than previously known. Between 1998 and 2004, the military discharged 20 Arabic and six Farsi language speakers under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The new data are not broken down by year, but additional figures from other reports suggest that about half the Arabic discharges came after September 11.
And we know, of course, that number has gone up at least a little since 2004.
The U.S. government spent several years, and a great deal of money, to train these American volunteers, all of whom were ready, willing, and able to serve their country in a time of war. It was exactly what the nation needed — right up until these same people were fired for being gay. If Bush wants them back, providing an invaluable service, all he has to do is snap his fingers, sign an executive order, and have the Arabic speakers we need overnight.
In fact, I’m reminded of the example we learned of in July when Bleu Copas, a decorated sergeant and Arabic language specialist was thrown out of the military under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. Copas, who joined the Army after the 9/11 attacks out of a sense of duty, was responsible for helping translate intercepted messages from possible terrorists, but he was thrown out anyway.
The Daily Show’s Jason Jones sat down with Paul Cameron, one of the nation’s leading anti-gay activists, said, “I think the country, on the aggregate, is safer without Bleu in the military.” Asked why, Cameron explained, “Guys don’t want to think about other guys, other fellas, ogling them in the shower or whatever.”
Jones responded, “I know I’d rather die in a terrorist attack than suffer through an uncomfortable shower with a gay.” Cameron grudgingly responded, “Yes.”
Now Bush has a chance to say whether he agrees with this. I’m not optimistic.