On 8/10/06, Steve Palmer <spalmer999 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> It's been clear from even before Bush was put in power that Iran has been in
> the crosshairs. After all, the neo-cons version of Mein Kampf, "Present
> Dangers: Crisis and Opportunity in American Foreign and Defense Policy",
> published in the runup to the 2000 election devoted a whole chapter to Iran as
> well as Iraq and North Korea. Like Hitler, the neocons have been very honest
> about their objectives and extremely persistent in pursuing them.
>
> There is ample hard evidence that, unlike Iraq, specific military preparations
> for operations in Iraq have been carried out carefully over the last several
> years. Follow the Farsi ...
>
> Specifically, the Monterey Defense Language (www.dliflc.edu)- "the acknowledged
> leader in foreign language education throughout DoD and the federal government"
> - set up a whole new Persian Farsi program which now graduates the second
> largest group of students after Arabic (In 2004, 157, vs 521 in Arabic). This
> is Persian, ie Iranian Farsi, not the Afghan version(Dari). This was clearly
> for military purposes given the absence of diplomatic contacts.
>
> The Institute's own cable TV system devotes channels 39, 41 and 42 to
> rebroadcasts from NITV (National Iranian TV - a Los Angeles based commercial
> channel), Iran-TV (diaspora satellite channel) and IRIB-2(Islamic Republic
> external service).
>
> The Institute produced a 'Basic Farsi Language Survival Guide', early in 2003,
> intended for 'use by advance parties [sic] or others who may not have immediate
> access to a qualified linguist'. Advance parties, of course, arrive in advance
> of a main force. It specifically mentions the Toman, Iran's currency (10 Rials
> = 1 Toman) and the helpful phrase "I have no Iranian money", as well as "We are
> Americans", "Help is on the way" and "You will not be harmed". Cheery informal
> salutations such as "Stop or I will shoot", "Follow our orders", "Put your
> weapon down", "Lie on your stomach", "Surrender" and "You are a prisoner" give
> a good flavour of the kind of rapport the guide is intended to help build with
> the local population.
>
> The Joint Language Center at Fort Meade, MD has a Persian Farsi curriculum.
> Arabic is apparently the only other Middle Eastern language in their
> curriculum.
>
> The "Fightin' Fifty-Fifth" Wing, the largest wing in Air Combat Command,
> responsible for providing, in its own words, "world class intelligence,
> surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic attack and command and control to
> national leadership and warfighting commanders, anytime, anyplace" has
> established its own language school at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. When
> Brigadier-General Craig Krozol, the wing commander opened the language centre
> last year, Farsi was the first language he mentioned. The base also happens to
> be home to the US Airforce Strategic Command Headquarters.
>
> The National Geospatial Intelligence College has also been offering crash
> courses in Farsi, presumably to help with the production of maps and the other
> preparations necessary for attacking a country.
>
> Titan Corporation and other private contractors have been engaged with the DoD
> to provide Farsi language training, which gives some idea of the extent and
> urgency of the ramp-up.
>
> Clearly, these language programs are insufficient and over the last couple of
> years, the military has been trying to recruit people who already speak Persian
> Farsi. Examples include ...
>
> * The 151st Air Refueling Wing, close by Salt Lake City International Airport
> has been looking for a "(1A8X1E) Airborne Linguist (Arabic/Persian/Farsi)".
>
> * The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in Bethesda Maryland has been
> looking for a Farsi Linguist/Geographical analyst to work on maps.
>
> * The US Army National Signal Center at Fort George, Georgia, needs a Top
> Secret clearance Persian Farsi linguist "to transcribe military
> communications".
>
> * Other (anonymous) agencies and private contractors in the DC/MD/VA area are
> also hunting for individuals with Farsi skills.
>
> Googling around for combinations of 'farsi' and 'jobs', 'vacancies' etc brought
> up pages of jobs in late 2004/early 2005: numerous 'usual suspect' defense
> recruiters were posting. However the number has dropped dramatically - some job
> descriptions I saved have now disappeared. Presumably this is because the
> positions have been filled or someone realised that such overt recruitment
> would give away the extent and nature of preparations.
>
> Steve
>
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-- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>