Did anyone say they were? But the military has made some sort of strategic decisions - and one of its decisions was to exclude gays. It's made its bed; now it should lie in it. Why is it my fault that the military doesn't want people like me?

Yes, they've got "don't ask don't tell" - but you tell me just how that's applied in practice. If they find out you're gay, you're dishonorably discharged - just like that. I'm not sure I can live in that deep a closet for that long. And why should I? If I acquiesce, and live in a closet, they will have no incentive to change their policy, will they now? Why is it any of their business what my personal life is like, as long as I know the languages they want?

I am not the victim here, nor am I portraying myself as one. The victim, and the incessant complainer, is the military leadership, who whine about the lack of qualified specialists (language or otherwise) while simultaneously refusing to admit gays and making life hellish for women. Let them whine. When they want me, they can reverse "don't ask don't tell" and implement stricter penalties for rape by soldiers. Until then, I'll do civilian work, thank you very much.

I am not a conservative.

But the thing I always noticed about liberals, not all, but many, is that they always have the excuse why somebody else should do something for them or why they can't do something for themselves.

If you are tired of right-wingers making policy, then get involved and make policy yourselves.

Americans are not a stupid people, but liberals, for the most part, love to brag how stupid we are. Are you calling yourselves stupid? Maybe you have self-esteem or self-hating issues rather than an intelligence problem.

Maybe it is the company you all are keeping, but I don't know any stupid Americans, on right or the left, in my personal life.

Every single person I know is multilingual, well-traveled and well-informed and not sitting there asses all day long on the internet bickering about the stupidity of Americans while doing absolutely nothing to advance American civilization.

To the woman who said she was a lesbian, the military has don't ask, don't tell, and nothing is stopping you from using your language abilities to train soldiers or bureaucrats or even do translation work for other government agencies. USAID, Peace Corps, State Department, Homeland Security, Customs, Immigration. Go to US Jobs, thousands of vacancies, and nobody asks for your sexual orientation on the application.

Sorry, your "I'm just a poor discriminated against lesbian" excuse doesn't cut it.

If you really want to serve, you will find a way. Good luck.

because I am a lesbian, living openly with my partner. I speak 3 languages fluently (unusual languages) and have a reading/listening knowledge of about 5 more (none of them are Arabic, but I also learn fast - Arabic is definitely on my list of languages to learn). The military may say all sorts of sanctimonious things, but it does not want me. It would not want me even if I were fluent in Arabic. It hates gays more than it wants to succeed in its mission.

Unlike some of the gays-in-the-military advocates, I am perfectly fine letting the military, um, soldier on without me. But don't slam me, and others like me, for refusing to join an organization that does not want people like me - that would not want me even if I were straight (how many women in the military get raped by their fellow soldiers? Too many...)

Considering what we know about the politicization of this administration, no reader of Salon* has a chance of employment with the federal government until our own regime change.

However if you graduated from Regents diploma mill in the last two years, then there may be an opportunity as director of this proposed program.

*Even you conservatives, you're probably too old anyways(over 24 yo).

As one letter writer stated previously, it is pretty much true that the science of anthropology has more times than not, been hijacked to inform and advise the machinations of empire. America did it in the 60's when they funded "anthropology" studies to southeast Asia in order to get a sense of, and a plan for, defeating Maoist insurgencies. No one who went out there would dare report back, that maybe (rightly or wrongly) most groups were making the choice independently for themselves. The painting of the Vietnamese as some sort of monolithic proxy of the Soviet Empire ignored the reality that most people in tiny hamlet villages don't know, or simply don't care, about these larger geopolitics. Most rural citizens in China signed up for the Maoists because they promised redistribution of land and less taxes.

The same holds true for the "middle east" (whatever that defines). Theres a wildly divergent array of forces, factions, groups, and impulses coursing through the area, just like any other, and its all been summed up, distilled, and dispensed as this amazingly simplified summation: Islamic fundamentalism trying to take over the world! The reality is, in an area with wildly corrupt dictatorships, under performing economies (despite princes having 3 jets for their luggage alone), and other attendant social problems, people will start to lash out and do what they feel is necessary. That often produces a orgasm of violence, to paraphrase Fanon, that quickly becomes uncontrollable.

We must always remember the truism that the military is a a part of American society. The values, beliefs, prejudices, and "cultural awareness" of Americans as a group are reflected, possibly in an exaggerated measure, in the military.

It is impossible to think that the military can do more in terms of language study than they did in earlier social movements. Illiterate soldiers in World War I, for example, were used in Army studies to promote education and end child labor. Military desegregation was ahead, but not by much, of the general social movement bringing racial equality. The widespread civilian racism toward Japanese people was reflected by the excessive racism of the war in the Pacific.