10 Arabic Speakers Too Many in the State Department

According to a recent article in USA Today, out of 34,000 State Department employees, 10 are fluent in Arabic. I think this is quite shocking. Why are there still 10 Arabic speakers in the State Department more than four and a half years after September 11? That may not seem like many, but it's only 9 fewer than the number of hijackers responsible for 9/11. Clearly, these Arabic speakers are a dangerous security risk. They could easily translate classified State Department documents into Arabic and pass them along to terrorists and no one would ever know. They may have already passed on nuclear secrets to the governments of Arabic-speaking countries such as Iran. It's also possible that some of these Arabic speakers were behind the recent State Department statement expressing sympathy for the Muhammad cartoon protesters and are influencing policy in other insidious ways. Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy Karen Hughes, whose job is to promote public relations in the Arab world, has the right idea: she doesn't have any Muslims on her senior staff who could unduly influence her with their biases. I think these 10 Arabic speakers should be purged from the State Department immediately and their jobs given to normal Americans who don't speak any languages at all.

Jon Swift, Arabic, State Department, Iran, Muslim Cartoon, Muhammad Cartoon, Mohammed, Muslim, Islam, Politics, Cartoons, September 11, 9-11, Foreign Policy, Karen Hughes