FBI agents still don’t know Arabic.
By on Oct 10th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
FBI agents still don’t know Arabic.
Five years after 9/11, “only 33 FBI agents have even a limited proficiency in Arabic, and none of them work in the sections of the bureau that coordinate investigations of international terrorism, according to new FBI statistics.”
UPDATE: American Progress has a progressive intelligence reform plan with detailed recommendations to solve this problem. Check it out HERE.
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How many people working at the FBI should speak Arabic?
October 10th, 2006 at 11:01 pmThis is exactly how the Islamic empire fell. They had no idea of the new ideas that were coming from the west because they didn’t bother to learn the language or find out what was happening. Because they had no access to those ideas, they had no idea how to cope with them once they began to animate other empires and civilizations. We are in danger, people.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:04 pmI would say a whole bunch.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:04 pm33? wtf…
October 10th, 2006 at 11:05 pmI would say a whole bunch.
Comment by JPark
But only if they’re not icky gays.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:09 pm#4 Hey that isn’t bad!!! .6 per state? Pretty darn good.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:09 pmThis is further evidence that the Bush administration is not interested in security. There are so many obvious steps that should be taken, but haven’t been, like adequate port security for container shipping. The Department of Homeland Security has accomplished virtually nothing with billions spent on security R&D that is almost entirely wasted on contractors who take the money and run.
These guys WANT another terrorist attack. They are inviting it by the way they openly thumb their noses at developing bona fide security measures.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:36 pmIf this doesn’t cause a stir in the media I am goling to be pissed. This is a MAJOR problem. How can we compete? The President of Iran wants to debate Bush in English, and our entire FBI only has 33 people that COULD understand if he spoke in Arabic???? Jesus! We are screwed.
http://www.getsomejosh.com
October 10th, 2006 at 11:37 pm#5 Ew, icky Arabic gays!! Well, to tell you the truth, they aren’t my scene but hey, maybe other Arabic gays like them.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:39 pmAnd I would guess that if any of these guys are gay they’ll probably be fired like how the army works.
October 10th, 2006 at 11:44 pmAmerica’s Least Wanted
I can hear Tony Snow/Dick Cheney now:
Q: “Can you comment on the report that we have only 33 FBI agents that can speak limited Arabic?”
A: “I disagree with that assessment.”
Q: “But have you read the report?”
A: “No.”
October 10th, 2006 at 11:44 pmHelp me out here, is having only 33 agent who can speak arabic part of the plan. I mean we’ve been at this whole “WAR ON TERROR” for over 5 years now. Don’t you think someone would have thought we might need a couple more. And the kicker is there not even in positions where it could be most useful.
What slogan did this one fall under (or through).
October 11th, 2006 at 12:28 amListen, you crazy lefties – learning Arabic will only embolden the enemy. The less we know about these people the better! You no-goodniks just hush about the whole thing right now, or you’ll be charged with materially supporting “those who would do harm to the US and its interests”, and there will be no recourse except to have an officially licensed agent of the US, Inc. spirit you away to Kazakhstan, where carefully screened subcontractors will do with you what freedom demands!
October 11th, 2006 at 12:57 amWhy learn Arabic? Bush doesn’t talk to “terrorists” anyway.
Geez, you’da thunk in the 5 years since the biggest crime on our soil allegedly committed by Arabic-speaking fer-ners the Federal Beureau of Instigation coulda picked up a couple of copies of the Rosetta Stone program and passed them around to some of their a-gence.
Just remember, yer supposed to trust the Repukelicans with yer safety, an’ the safety of yer sons and daughters yew send off to werk fer Repukelican Congressmen as their right-hand pages.
Oh, and give the Presnident the benefit of the doubt if ya ever think he might have screwed up on something. It’s not his fault he fallered a Dimokrat.
October 11th, 2006 at 1:12 amFive years after 9/11, “only 33 FBI agents have even a limited proficiency in Arabic, and none of them work in the sections of the bureau that coordinate investigations of international terrorism, according to new FBI statistics.â€
Wow! Now I’m curious, so let’s back up for some questions about Euro-centric “basics”: How many know French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese? Dutch? Czech, Russian? Danish, Norwegian, Swedish? Finnish or Estonian? …. Greek Polish Hungarian?
Hmmmm. We’re talkin’ fluent… right? Oh, …. no?
All that money, all that talk, all that “Everything changed after 9/11″, but apparently… it didn’t.
October 11th, 2006 at 1:15 amMeanwhile, back at the War: In an article to be published in the Medical Journal Lancet, researchers have ascertained the total number of Iraqi casualties due to Bush’s War at over 650,000. Roughly 200,000 Iraqis died at the hands of coalition forces, the remaining deaths the result of Iraqi v. Iraqi violence in their civil strife.
October 11th, 2006 at 1:20 amWell the Pentagon had some Arabic speaking guys, but then found out they are Gay so got rid of them > FBI could hire them I suppose > lol.
October 11th, 2006 at 1:30 amI personally know seven people who speak and read Arabic. Three are over 65, the rest under 45. The read aspect is important. One of younger can communicate in and read all 6 or 7 dialects of the language, is a member of the US Navy, and was turned down by both the CIA and the FBI because he has parents and siblings in Lebanon.
October 11th, 2006 at 2:17 amOh, and I forgot to say that the guy was unaware that he was allowed to bring in a translation dictionary for the CIA test. He passed without it.
October 11th, 2006 at 2:23 amWell heck, it’s cause WE’RE gonna do the talkin’ and THEY’RE gonna do the listenin’.
And that there splains the whole problem; they haven’t learned ‘Merikan well enough to understand what we’re telling them to do. Their bad.
October 11th, 2006 at 3:38 amThey dont need to learn another language because the FBI is listening to US. Not anyone who speaks Arabic.
October 11th, 2006 at 4:35 amWho is going to learn Arabic in 5 years? This is a job Clinton should have been working on.
October 11th, 2006 at 6:09 amWhy do Democrats hate Habeas Corpus?
This entire Bush-led government is the Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight from top to bottom.
It’s a good thing Bush doesn’t read or care about history because it will be very, very unkind to him. (Unless it’s printed by Regnery, I suppose.)
#22 “Well heck, it’s cause WE’RE gonna do the talkin’ and THEY’RE gonna do the listenin’.”
LOL. . . why can I see Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, et all, sitting around the table nodding furiously in agreement with Bush saying that?
October 11th, 2006 at 7:19 am#25 “Who is going to learn Arabic in 5 years?. . ..”
I assume your being facetious, but I’ll take a crack at that. State Department employees take language immersion courses and learn in months. Of course, they don’t get the nuance that native speakers get right away. But considering every Arab is considered a security risk by this administration (that non-Caucasian skin color is a sure giveaway) it must be better to have the messages go untranslated. . .
Chirst they’re stupid.
October 11th, 2006 at 7:25 amJosh P at #8. Not to worry, Iranians speak Farsi, not Arabic. Iranians are not Arabs.
October 11th, 2006 at 7:46 amYeah, but the FBI is getting really good at going after kiddie porn. Come on, people! Where are our priorities? If they were to learn Arabic, then we might actually be able to make some progress on combatting terrorism and then the American people wouldn’t be scared into voting Republican and Halliburton would be out a very lucrative contract.
October 11th, 2006 at 7:46 amSometimes things are precisely as they appear.
Apply Occam’s Razor and what do you get?
The FBI is still understaffed with Arab translators five years after 9/11.
Warantless Wiretaps result in evidence which is not admissable in a court of law.
Sibel Edmonds was SILENCED for correctly interpreting Arabic.
These interpretations led to accusations against government officials which if told in full would reveal the government’s direct complicity in both arm & drugs trafficing AND its complicity in CAUSING TERROR.
More translators would result in more chances that the Government’s own illegal efforts would be exposed, and using Warrants to conduct this eavesdropping would mean that these matters could be brought to trial – with EVIDENCE.
Clearly the government wants no part of trials of purported “Terrorists.”
Occam’s Razor implies that the “Terrorists” are in fact being protected by the Government.
BIG BROTHER @ WORK:
As defined by the US State Department, “Terrorism” includes both the ACT of terror AND the THREAT of Terror for political and / or strategic purposes.
This Frontline show “THE ENEMY WITHIN” was excellent.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/enemywithin/
It clearly laid out the fact that the FBI itself was DIRECTLY RESPONSIBLE for hyping the terror threat AND for making FALSE CLAIMS DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO INDUCE FEAR – namely that the actions of a few Muslims in the US were directly linked to Al Qaeda.
The purpose of this communication is clear. The purpose is to induce fear in the population at large, by implying that those responsible for 9/11 (according to the US government) are directly operating inside the US.
This is a lie – and they knew it was a lie. On whose instructions were these claims made? Who wrote the script that the FBI read to the press? Who ordered this fraud on the public?
The topic of this thread was supposed to be about the US government’s involvement in attributing terror within the US to “Al Qaeda.”
What was the primary example of Terror within the US attributed to Al Qaeda?
9/11.
How many times was 9/11 mentioned in the television show which is the subject of this thread? I didn’t count them, but it was likely mentioned dozens of times.
Without ANY evidence to support its claim, the Government blamed these Muslims of plotting terrorism in the US.
Without ANY evidence to support its claims, the US Government accused Bin Laden / Al Qaeda of the 9/11 attacks.
Bin Laden IS NOT WANTED by the FBI in connection with the 9/11 attacks.
Even this Frontline show, as good as it is, used the images of all 19 purported hijackers as portrayed by the US Government just days after the 9/11 attack, this DESPITE THE FACT that at least 7 of these individuals were found not to have been involved – and ARE IN FACT ALIVE.
How is it that NO US MAINSTREAM MEDIA ENTITY has sought to clear up this obvious disinformation?
The BBC and other RESPECTED news organizations around the world know for a fact that the disinformation perpetuated by the FBI in connection with the 19 Muslim Hijackers is simply FALSE.
Why must we still today see news reports featuring 19 faces of purported suicide terrorists, 1/3 of whom are still alive?
Why?
.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:12 amThanks, plunger.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:16 amShame on ThinkProgress for hiding the fact that Democrats voted to toss Habeas Corpus.
All votes in Congress are subject to blackmail.
That’s why everything passes.
When only men of low moral character are allowed through the AIPAC filter into the political arena, and the combination of Sexpionage, bribes and blackmail is applied, the result is a fully compliant congress.
Time to hit the “PURGE” button.
Warrantless wiretaps = blackmail, plain and simple.
Israel’s Comverse has a wiretap ability in the United States equal to that of the NSA.
BLACKMAIL is the number one problem with the Government of the United States.
BLACKMAIL.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:30 amI personally know seven people who speak and read Arabic. Three are over 65, the rest under 45. The read aspect is important. One of the younger can communicate in and read all 6 or 7 dialects of the language, is a member of the US Navy, and was turned down by both the CIA and the FBI because he has parents and siblings in Lebanon. — WaltTheMan
*****************
After having spent some time working for a government contractor, I can vouch for the fact that the security clearance process is a critical factor in this equation. Given the potentially sensitive nature of the work, anyone who wanted to work as a translator for the FBI would be required to apply for and obtain a security clearance — and while there are different levels of clearance and some are less stringent than others, it’s not hard to imagine that anyone who wanted to work in the sections which coordinate investigations of international terrorism would be required to have a high-level one. Many people can’t apply for these jobs unless they have native proficiency in the language — even if you’ve studied the language for years, you won’t be considered. Everyone who applies for a clearance undergoes a thorough background check — and at the higher levels, even a whiff of impropriety or suspect behavior is grounds for refusal. As an example, anyone with an immediate family member whose name appeared on the “no-fly” list — regardless of whether it referred to them specifically or not! — would probably be eliminated right away. All other things being equal, they’ll always err on the side of caution — this is a necessary evil.
My thought is that if they’re willing to relax the restrictions with regard to new recruits for the military, it might behoove them to relax the restrictions with regard to the requirements for translation positions. I think they should consider people who have learned Arabic as a second language and can demonstrate clear proficiency under stringent testing conditions. (That is, if they’re really as serious about catching terrorists as they claim to be — and as some people may know, there are those who claim they have evidence to refute this.) If they open the doors to people who can demonstrate high-level proficiency, they can at least get some of these positions staffed…and they’re more likely to expand both the number of potential candidates and the number of people who can pass the clearance.
October 11th, 2006 at 8:37 am[...] Original post by Nico Read More… [...]
October 11th, 2006 at 9:28 amOn the other hand, Bush can’t speak English.
October 11th, 2006 at 9:45 amIs this what the republicans consider corporate style professionalism? I have never heard of any company that is so incompetent. It would be like a company needing to get the Y2K problems fixed in their Fortran language applications and they only hire 1 programmer that knows Fortran and 20 that know Visual Basic…. somebody would be getting replaced shortly for such a decision.
But hey according to the people that hate all non-christian religions that are running this country thinks that you dont need to understand the enemy only the “will” to bomb them over and over and over.
October 11th, 2006 at 9:46 amIt turns out that Israel has had a potential wiretap on every phone in America for years, along with the ability to monitor and record who any person is calling, anywhere in America; information of great value even if one does not listen to the calls themselves. Amdocs, Inc., the company which subcontracts billing and directory services for phone companies around the world, including 90 percent of American phone companies, is owned by Israeli interests. Yet another company, Comverse Infosys, is suspected of having built a “back door†into the equipment permanently installed into the phone system that allows instant eavesdropping by law enforcement agencies on any phone in America. This includes yours.
http://100777.com/node/354
October 11th, 2006 at 10:10 amNot to worry everyone. Plenty of Arabic linguists are working for the mercenaries — I mean — contractors. They’re on our side — I think?
October 11th, 2006 at 10:24 amRead the book “9/11 Commission Omissions and Distortions”
…pay particular attention to the story about the FBI translator who was canned…
…after warning her superiors of the TRAITOR in their midst…
…Whistleblowers are anathema in this administration…
…and the sorry ass anti-AMERICAN electorate has let them down…
…when they’ve put EVERYTHING on the line for us…
…NOBODY wants to help you any more…
October 11th, 2006 at 12:05 pmDon’t we need to privatize the FBI?
October 11th, 2006 at 10:26 pmIn re: “Bush debating the president of Iran in Arabic”: perhaps YOU are the ones who ought to check your facts…The president of Iran speaks Farsi, not Arabic.
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:58 pm