Replies

This is a very difficult problem for universities that wish to establish departments of ME studies (Daniel Pipes has discussed this). Obviously, they would like to have some faculty members who actually come from the countries in question, but the problem is that these people are so ideologically twisted that they can't be trusted. I hope that future candidates for these positions will be a little more carefully researched, and that there will also be more stringent expectations on the part of the universities.

This affects everything that involves using natives of ME countries, unfortunately. I was at a translators conference a couple of weeks ago where we were addressed by several foreign born interpreters who had worked on terrorism trials. They were not even subtle about where their sympathies lay. One of them told us that he went up to the blind sheik (of the first WTC bombing) and apologized to him for not being able to be of more assistance - even though he had been allowed to have ex parte conversations and essentially sanitize the sheik's testimony by not being forced to interpret word for word.

I think (hope) the courts would be reluctant to give interpreters such privileges now, but it simply shows how difficult it is to find ME native faculty or employees who do not raise serious concerns. One thing we should try to do after Iraq is recruit from among groups or peoples who have been favorable to us.