Posted on 12/03/2004 12:39:45 PM PST by Mars55
Despite a shortage of Arabic translators, the FBI turned down applications for linguist jobs from nearly 100 Arabic-speaking Jews in New York following the World Trade Center attacks, WorldNetDaily has learned.
(Excerpt) Read more at jpef.net ...
BTW, last time I checked the background checking contractors in the DC area were running nearly a year behind, and that was for TSA.
You drop the FBI check on top of that, and you are over a year easy.
Frankly, I'd hire only Hashemites to do the translations.
Interestingly through all the threads on this, no one has suggested recruiting arabic speaking Christians, of which there are many, which would solve the problem.
As far as I know the Syrian, Chaldean and other ME Christian churches in this country have pretty much switched over to an English-only operation, much like the Roman Catholics, so they might not be a good source.
On the other hand, Standard Oil, Shell Oil, etc. all have thousands of American and European employees who speak Arabic! Could be those 100 native speakers were simply edged out by others who were more competent.
I agree that we should learn the language, but it's not as easy as you think. And the older you get, the harder it is to learn a new language.
Are you suggesting we refer to them as "Clits" for short?
I have learned a foreign language, used it in my work for more than 20 years, retired, and taught it at two universities.
There is no better way to learn a culture than to learn that language. The danger is the teacher. One can teach in order to impart understanding of that foreign culture or one can teach to convert to that foreign culture.
I think Arabic teachers who are muslims would do their damnedest to convert and subvert.
But if one wants to learn, one could be careful to choose a good teacher. I like the Pimsleur Arabic CDs, ten for $40 at Barnes and Noble and they walk you through the ropes, reinforcing at every step.
1. So it's OK if they have ties to Arabic countries' intelligence agencies but not to Israel's?Yup. I can see why they might have been excluded. Two reasons right up front.
1. Ties to Israeli Intelligence.
2. Not enough information to clear the candidate's background sufficient for employment.
"1. So it's OK if they have ties to Arabic countries' intelligence agencies but not to Israel's?
2. So you think it's easier to clear someone from Israel than from Iraq because it is easier to do a background investigation in Baghdad than Tel Aviv?"
Did I say any of those things? Good gravy.
I have reposted what I said early below:
"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."
How did you arrive at the conclusions you did from those statements?
I think there is sufficient evidence to substantiate that Israel regularly operates its spies in the US. Countries have interests, not allies, and as such you have to be as diligent clearing an Israeli translator candidate as you would an Arab. Israel doesn't pose a grave and immediate threat to US national security, unless of course you consider that they were working with the Chinese on advanced avionics, radar, etc.
Regardless of nationality, if the arab translator is Swedish, you have to do the check.
And for the last time, there wasn't enough information in the article to determine whether the FBI was incompetent here. As such, their actions since 9/11 have earned them the benefit of the doubt - in my humble and solitary opinion.
As for 'easy to clear' - depends upon the individual and their history. You may be dealing with a white guy from Orange, CA, who for whatever reason wants to nuke a major US city, and thinks he can help his local Al Qaeda chapter by applying for a job as an Arab Translator. Is that not impossible? The guy in question is white, US citizen, and lives in Orange, for example - you still got to run the guy's background down to find out what makes him tick.
For certain jobs especially, I think you go the extra mile in doing your background checks and clearances. Translation is one of those jobs, in my opinion.
5.56mm
I suppose that means the FBI is admitting a lack of competence when it comes to vetting the job applicants?
I just bought the Pimsleur set. It was at Waldenbooks for under $40. It is going very well so far, which is to say it is clear as a bell. This seems to be the ticket.
I am not good with languages. The kid selling peanuts on the street in Athens is 10 times better than I am with languages. But, I can puzzle through Voltaire, Mann, Dante, and even Lyotard. Speaking? Forget it. Listening? Yeah, to a degree. Arabic, though, would get you conversation with a billion people. Pimsleur might do the trick. Have you seen the Pimsleur Arabic set? It is all by ear, all of it, nothing in writing.
Yes. The translator Larry Wu-Tai Chin was one of the worst traitors we have had. He spied for the PRC for over 30 years against us. He had a massive gambling habit that, if nothing else, should have been picked up.
Of course! The old "dual loyalty" smear. And, surely, no Arab would *ever* even *think* about betraying us to various Arab intelligence organizations!
After all, it was Jewish jihadists who hijacked those 4 airplanes and rammed 2 of them into the World Trade Center, 1 into the Pentagon and the last one into the ground. It's plainly clear that this was a Mossad operation, right?
true, I was focusing on the need to keep us safe and hiring people who can do the job.
You're right though, about the discrimination.
And it's *not* difficult to do a clearance on someone in NYC who not only has family throughout the Arab world, but also traveled around there and may have spent time in "schools" (aka madrassas)?!
"See we used to win wars back then.
Don't get me wrong we still do, but at what cost stupidity!"
Yes! I understand what you mean. We're winning now, of course, but it's a harder slog, with a higher cost than I think it has to be.
Who knows. I suspect the winning candidates for those jobs as translator were Kurds and folks who worked for American oil companies.
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