Not that I think the public schools should mandate learning Arabic, there is a real need for Arabic translators in the State Department, Military, Intelligence agencies, ...
Non Muslim Arabic speakers would be a real security enhancement.
I did some contracting work about 4 years ago for the Pentagon to help them recruit students wanting to learn Arabic or Chinese. The government was offering some pretty generous programs to send students overseas for some "total immersion" learning programs.
no kidding. when we occupy the oilfields it will be very helpful to be able to communicate with the locals.