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U.S. Army's Defense Language Institute under Intensified Fire U.S. Has Shortage of Personnel to Translate Terrorist Threats Servicemembers Legal Defense Network
The firings, which received national attention in the Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today and San Francisco Chronicle, among others, took place over a two month period from mid-August through mid-October 2002. An editorial appearing in Saturday's Newark Times-Ledger noted, in part, that "the incident once again illustrates the foolishness of the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy." According to Don Hamilton, a staff member of the National Commission on Terrorism, Arabic is one of the most difficult languages to learn. The commission produced a report two years ago describing a "very severe" shortage of translators, and Hamilton said it can take two years to become even modestly proficient in Arabic. "The American people have every right to be concerned about these firings," said C. Dixon Osburn, Executive Director of Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), a legal aid and advocacy organization that assisted the linguists. "Our armed forces should never place anti-gay discrimination over national security." Deroy Murdock, a columnist with the Scripps Howard News Service, agreed.: "Whatever one thinks of homosexuality, Americans should agree -- especially now -- that the Pentagon ought to stay focused on first things, such as preventing America's wily enemies from converting more skyscrapers into high-rise crematoria," Murdock said. "Knowing the rarity of U.S. Arabic linguists with security clearance, do we invite these fired linguists to re-enter the military or forego their talents, even if doing so means that al-Qaeda can succeed in detonating a smallpox weapon or dirty bomb because we did not have the talent to translate information that could prevent such attacks?" |
Rep. Barney Frank: 'For those who needed further evidence of how ill-advised the anti-gay military policy is, they now have it'