Nearly four years after the Sept. 11 attacks, the federal government has created a profusion of programs to train students in languages and cultures important in the war on terrorism. But government leaders and language experts say the effort is an uncoordinated jumble too slow to produce measurable results. “We’re not there, and we’re not moving fast enough,” says Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Since 9/11, Congress and the White House have pumped money into new and existing programs for training in Arabic and other Middle Eastern languages and cultures. Annual spending has jumped from about $41 million in 2001 to $100 million today. While the funding and programs have grown, the results are, so far, insufficient, according to Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. The government needs to hire 34,000 foreign-language specialists, particularly Arabic speakers, for homeland security, defense and intelligence agencies, he says. Full Story
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