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April 07, 2005
How Many Government Agencies Does It Take to Teach Soldiers Arabic?
Writes Fred Kaplan at Slate:
I've just read one of the funniest and saddest government documents I've run across in years. Published by the Pentagon (the source of most such things) under the title "Defense Language Transformation Roadmap," it details the official plan for improving foreign-language skills among U.S. military personnel.
The document, Kaplan notes, took 21 months to complete and consists of a whole (count 'em) 19 pages. On top of that, the plans in the document are really just fixin'-to-get-ready plans--not plans actually to teach military personnel Arabic, but plans to set up plans to teach military personnel Arabic.
Kaplan concludes:
In the three and a half years after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, the United States built a massive arsenal, equipped an equally massive fighting force, and declared victory in a worldwide war over imperial Japan and Nazi Germany.
In the three and a half years after the Soviets launched the Sputnik satellite in 1957, the U.S. government funded dozens—if not hundreds—of Russian-language and Russian-studies departments not just within the military but in high schools and colleges all across America.
Now, three and a half years after Islamic fundamentalists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Department of Defense is three months away from publishing an official "instruction" providing "guidance for language program management."
It's pathetic.
Indeed it is, but that's government for you. I wonder how much this has (and will) cost the taxpayers. We dare not complain about it though, or we're soft on defense and with the terrorists.
(Link courtesy Antiwar.com.)
Posted by Mike Tennant at April 7, 2005 01:56 PM
Comments
I wonder why they don't offer a contract to Halliburton dig up some Arab speakers? I could find them dozens of them in just a few days. I don't know if they could get through the background checks though.
Posted by: Ali_Massoud ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.strike-the-root.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif){kind=small}
at April 13, 2005 09:05 AM
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