Letters to the Editor
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Oy
I wonder what the definition of "fluent" is. First of all, Arabic is really several languages, all written with the same script (like Chinese). Do they know Iraqi, as opposed to Egyptian (the standard "dialect" taught) or Classical Arabic (which would be like learning Biblical Hebrew to speak to Israelis).
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Let's hope that
they aren't kept in the same room. Ten eh? Seems about right for such an incompetent administration. Wait till they find out four of them are closet gays...
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The 5% Solution
That's 10 out of about 200, right?
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SarabethG already hinted at the real question...
...exactly how many "diplomats" DO we have in Baghdad?
We need a point of reference, Tim -- 10 out of 50, while not great, would be a heck of a lot better than 10 out of 500!
The good news is, of course, we know none of those 10 fluent in both Arabic and English are GAY. Can't have any of THAT, now can we?
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Re: Gay translators
I seem to remember this coming up a few years ago, shortly after Bush went to war. There was some story about how few arabic translators there were, and how some significant number had quit or been fired because they were gay.
As we can see, this administration is all over it.
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Couple of points of clarification
I don't know how this particular article defines "fluency," but the Foreign Service Institute, which teaches foreign languages to State Department employees, rates proficiency (both verbal and written, separately) on a scale of 0 to 5. 5 is native proficiency with a vocabulary commensurate with someone who has an advanced education. Most Foreign Service Officers who have a language requirement for a particular position seek to attain a "3/3," which is a functional proficiency. I seriously doubt that any of those 10 people have been rated a 5/5. If you can download this pdf file, it explains the rankings in considerable detail (towards the end of the document):
http://fsi.state.gov/fsi/sis/pubs/continuum.pdf
Part of the problem with us recruiting enough Arabic speakers is that those who have native proficiency often have a hard time obtaining a security clearance. I believe Time magazine ran an article recently about that. But FSI is actually running courses in "Iraqi Arabic."
Second point of clarification: The Foreign Service has no prohibitions on openly gay personnel, and I know of a couple of gay FSOs who have served in Baghdad. In fact, for a while they and the gay contractors had even formed a support group. The CIA also has a GLBT support group called ANGLES. It's only the military that is kicking out Arabic speakers. I wish we could find a way to channel those servicemembers who are kicked out of the military directly into another government agency that can use their language skills. I actually know one of the gay Arabic linguists who was kicked out of the Army a couple of years ago. He really wanted to join another federal agency, but the federal hiring process takes so long that he and his partner (a Korean linguist) had to find other employment (you don't get a severance package when you get kicked out under Don't Ask, Don't Tell). Eventually, their skills atrophied from lack of use. The Arabic linguist ended up in law school. His partner is still working odd jobs.
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That's GREAT!!!!
I thought it was ZERO.
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Listen to the Captain
The captain is quite correct on the various policies. Of course, the diplomats stationed at the embassy aren't the only State Department people in Iraq and many of the folks at the embassy aren't State. Presumably, the other agencies have even fewer folks with the requisite language skills. The 100% turnover rate every 12 months makes it even more difficult to maintain. And of course, if we sent all our Arab linguists to Iraq, who would be left to talk to the Saudis and the Egyptians?
The more interesting question might be, how many of the diplomats assigned to the Provincial Reconstruction Teams scattered across Iraq can speak Arabic and/or Kurdish? The folks at the embassy don't get out much these days but the provincial teams are supposed to be out there spreading the good word and encouraging group participation.
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Seriously, thanks for the info, "captainlarab"
The concrete info you presented is appreciated. I'm actually reassured to know the Foreign Service does NOT hold to the idiotic "don't ask/don't tell" policy that reportedly has forced personnel fluent in foreign languages OUT of the active military.
Our priorities are completely screwed up if such issues of pseudo-morality outweigh everything else.
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Some helpful links
Here is the website for Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies:
http://www.glifaa.org
Here's the story about native Arabic speakers and why we have problems hiring them (it was Newsweek, not Time, my bad):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13392191/site/newsweek/
Here's some general info on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell":
http://www.palmcenter.org/
with a press release specifically discussing the prevalence of gay intelligence agents who are working alongside military servicemembers:
http://www.palmcenter.org/press/dadt/releases/as_more_intelligence_agents_work_with_military_personnel_scholars_question_rationale_for_pentagon_s_gay_ban
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Well, that's about 9 more than I thought there were!
I really thought this was going to be a two-part statement, with the second statement being something like "Number of Bush campaign contributors appointed to posts in the Arab world: 2,438."
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Translate this:
Bush is an asshole. We are sorry we wrecked your country. Please understand that your fight is with those stupid sons-of-bitches in the White House and not with the American people.
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That's way up from 6
The Iraq Study Group's report on the country pointed out that there were only 6 employees in the US embassy in Iraq who were fluent in Arabic. So the number of Arabic speakers is up by a whopping 67% in what, just two years? At that rate, we can soon look forward to having as many as 2% of the embassy employees able to speak the language of the country they are living in! (Remember, there are 1,000 State Department employees in the "embassy", not counting the 5,000 or so troops based there to guard them.)
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Length of Arabic language training
Just FYI, the "basic" standard Arabic course at the Foreign Service Institute lasts between 24 and 45 weeks. That's 24-45 weeks of paying a federal employee full-time to do nothing but study Arabic, with no guarantee that the person will be functionally proficient at the end (depends on the person's aptitude at learning languages). So, if the State Department is not hiring native speakers (and FYI, Foreign Service Officers have to be U.S. citizens, which could hinder that effort), and they don't already have a corps of Arabic speakers (which they're working on), and the vast majority of Foreign Service Officers already have jobs/assignments and can't just drop what they're doing to go learn Arabic full-time, it's really hard to improve those Baghdad numbers in less than a year.
Also, you can rest assured that the embassy is hiring locals to work as translators (even if those folks have to wear ski masks to work). Sure, that's not as good as having your own diplomats be fluent in the language, but I guarantee you that the Provincial Reconstruction Teams are not out there playing "charades" with local Iraqis in order to make themselves understood. It's really not unheard of for a diplomat to be dependent upon a translator.