i/I'm curious, how would a 1st or 2nd generation Egyptian, Jordanian or Iraqi Jew be more of an inherant security risk than an 1st or 2nd generation Egyptian, Jordanian or Iraqi Arab./i
Without doing a proper background check, I couldn't tell you. You can't make blanket generalizations about nationalites in individual hiring decisions.
The son of a leader for Hamas might be the right man for the translator job, simply because his dad killed his mom and hates him for it.
You can't know these things unless you do the work. Again, all I can tell you is that there wasn't enough information in the article to make a judgement about the FBI. I do know that the way it was written, the FBI comes out looking bad, however. This is generally what happens in the press - it's the government or Americans that are the idiots.
What we do know is that the FBI has been partially responsible in keeping us terrorist-attack free since 9/11. That cannot have been an easy thing to succeed at. On that basis, I will give them the benefit of the doubt.
Well, the FBI sure hosed us before 9/11. Remember the memos re: Muslims at flight schools? Does the name Zaccarias Moussaoui ring a bell, perhaps?