[livius]

As a translator (not of Arabic) who has had contact with Arabic translators at various translation related events, I can assure you that it is true. It is also rather well-known in the translation world that this is a problem (and not only with Arabic translators - many foreign born translators are extremely anti-American, even though they live and work here).

Even Alfonso X, the 13th century Spanish king under whom the famous Escuela de Traductores flourished and translated works from Arabic, Hebrew and other languages into Latin, knew that translators could not be trusted. He had them work in teams of 3, 2 of them being native speakers who could be expected to check each other, and one of them being a native Spaniard who knew enough of the language to know whether the translation was reasonably accurate.

Relistically speaking, it is not possible to bring somebody to near-native fluency in six months, to the point where they could accurately translate highly idiomatic and often regional Arabic documents and transcriptions. However, it would be possible to teach American linguists enough in six months to a year so that they would at least have an idea of whether or not a translation was accurate or whether it should be extensively reviewed. They might also be able to scan documents for "pertinence" without relying solely on the judgment of the Arabic translators.

[Diogenesis]

If they cheered the 911 Atrocities, then let them translate from a hermetically-sealed cage in Cuba
with food for each complete and accurate translation.

[Cvengr]

FWIW, I spoke with a parent of a female Army specialist recently who had been wounded in Iraq earlier and was looking at a discharge, but had been translating for the Army. They hired her back as a civilian at $150K plus. Not a bad severence opportunity.