Posted on 04/17/2003 10:16:22 AM PDT by knighthawk
Saddam Hussein's forces have been routed, and the fighting is wrapping up in Iraq. Now other missions begin in earnest: Rooting out terrorists, tracking down chemical and biological weapons and destroying Iraq's arsenal of missiles - all while helping the Iraqis build a new government.
There already have been successes. Exhibit No. 1 is the capture of terrorist ringleader Abu Abbas, the Palestinian murderer who organized the 1985 Achille Lauro hijacking.
New Yorkers remember that atrocity well. Four men dispatched by Abbas commandeered the Italian cruise liner and separated the Jews from the other passengers. Manhattanite Leon Klinghoffer objected to this Nazi-like selection. Sixty-nine years old and partially paralyzed, he hardly posed a threat. But the thugs could not deal with someone - particularly a Jew - who dared defy them. So they shot him and hurled him and his wheelchair into the Mediterranean. Klinghoffer defined courage just as the killers defined cowardice.
An end to the hijacking was negotiated, but as Abbas and his henchmen were flying to a haven in Tunisia, U.S. fighter jets forced their plane to land in Sicily. Scandalously, Italy botched the criminal case, and Abbas went to Iraq and the welcoming arms of Saddam.
Just days ago, Abbas' Palestine Liberation Front still was operating a 25-acre terrorist training camp near Baghdad, recruiting suicide bombers and other volunteers of the lethal variety. The place was overrun by the Marines, but Abbas wasn't there to greet the leathernecks. He tried to hightail it to Syria and was turned back at the border. Now he's a guest of the U.S. military.
Abbas must not enjoy another free day for the rest of his miserable life. Italy, which subsequently rectified its judicial mistake and tried Abbas in absentia, wants him back to serve life in prison. But will Italy guarantee that he rot in jail? The Klinghoffer family prefers that Abbas be brought to the U.S. for trial.
Whatever his eventual fate, his foreseeable future is controlled by American authorities. This beast is not a prisoner of war and therefore is not protected by the Geneva Convention. Get the drift? We should do everything in our power to get info from him on the international terror network.
Meanwhile, American forces continue to hunt other criminals. Just yesterday, they raided the home of Rahib (Dr. Germ) Taha, the woman in charge of Saddam's biological weapons program. Although she's still missing, there were arrests, and documents were recovered. Our troops already have captured Saddam's science adviser, Amer al-Saadi, who was on the Most Wanted list.
Looks like the secrets of Iraq's weapons programs won't stay secret for much longer.
Translation: bigotry
Keeping the peace in Iraq. Obtaining critical info from Iraqi civilians and soldiers. Interrogating prisoners. Tracking terror suspects. Negotiating with officials. Eavesdropping on "chatter" that might be of much import. Translating communiqués. Heck, even translating Al Jazeera to see what pap it's broadcasting to the Arab world. All of the above, and much more, require the skills of Americans fluent in Arabic. But the U.S. military has a considerable lack of such talent. And this is partly its own fault.
The Defense Department, under its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, continues to discharge lesbian, gay and bisexual linguists - despite an even more urgent need for translators in the aftermath of 9/11 and the Iraq war. The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, which provides legal assistance to those cashiered, says it has been helping 24 linguists, including nine Arabic speakers. Most reportedly had been discharged from the Defense Language Institute in California, the armed forces' premier training ground for translators.
Last year, the overall number of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" discharges fell by more than 25%, perhaps because even homophobic military personnel realized our armed forces needed bolstering in anticipation of war. But translators were still targeted. Even though a 2002 General Accounting Office report warned that a shortage of translators has "compromised U.S. military, law enforcement, intelligence, counterterrorism and diplomatic efforts."
Does any of that sound like something that should be compromised? Particularly now? Let the Pentagon compromise and revise a policy that hurts both patriotic individuals and the nation at large.
Are all Arabic speakers gay?
Can't be authoritative about it, but after a year or so in the region, my impression was, well, never mind. But there are some sick puppies over there.
Yes, I believe the author wants us to assume so. Actually, the piece started with a bang and then ended with a sizzle.
As I recall, these "translators" were "telling" -- in words and deeds.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) Nov 15, 2002
Two of the soldiers were discharged after they were found together in a barracks after curfew, while the other seven admitted their homosexuality because their "integrity was compromised by not being honest with their heterosexual colleagues," said Steve Ralls of the Servicemen's Legal Defense Network.
All nine translators received discharge papers stating that the reason for their dismissal was their sexuality.
Lieutenant Colonel Wayne Shanks, a spokesman for the army's Training and Doctrine Command, said it was US policy to discharge any soldier who was either discovered engaging in homosexual conduct or admitted being homosexual.
"We just enforce that policy," he said.
It's interesting that the Daily News includes this topic under a headline about "Iraq's Dirty Secrets."
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