[Hostage]

Accent is not really the issue. Translation is. We got off on translation because I drew attention to the Defense Language Institute.

I think DOD has got the covered. Why they hired translators fromt he Middle East I do not know unless it was to recognize voices or cultural things not understood by a trained translator.

I would also wager there are plenty of Arab-Americans as well as Iranians in the USA who are itching to revenge themselves on the criminals back in their homelands, who would verify the translations.

The story is not unlike alot of stories in the immediate aftermath of 911. We saw and heard many accounts of foreigners and foreign students that commented that America was "getting a taste of their own medicine". I also saw this televised among our own kids in public schools, usually kids of color who had been taught to think of America as a country founded by old dead white Christian males. I attribute all of this to the rein of the Clintons and their cultural influence on America.

[Diogenesis]

Good point, but there are no excuses.
ctonious, ought-six, and others appear closer to the correct issue.

[longtermmemmory]

This could be a symptom of the attitude of those who dominate government work in general. How many US government employees are anti-american in the sense that they want more free stuff? How many government employees (union ghepart types) just hate Bush and anything republican?

The other problem of native translators is the fact that any good translator would end up at some point in the anti-american arab community. When they go to the mosque, how much anti-americanism will they have there?

Does anyone remember the name of the guy who spied for israel?

[BnBlFlag]

"Kids of color have been taught that America is a country founded by old dead white males.....".
So what. Its true.