[lbo-talk] how not to run an occupation

[Carl Remick]

>From: Doug Henwood <DHENWOOD at panix.com>
>
>Just recorded my interview with Patrick Cockburn on his new book on  The 
>Occupation. He says: "There are 1000 people in the US embassy in  the Green 
>Zone in Baghdad, and six of them are fluent Arabic speakers."

I hope he gave proper credit to Baker, Hamilton et al. -- i.e., from the 
Iraq Study Group Report, pg 60:  "8. U.S. Personnel  – The United States can 
take several steps to ensure that it has personnel with the right skills 
serving in Iraq. All of our efforts in Iraq, military and civilian, are 
handicapped by Americans' lack of language and cultural understanding. Our 
embassy of 1,000 has 33 Arabic speakers, just six of whom are at the level 
of fluency."

<http://www.usip.org/isg/iraq_study_group_report/report/1206/iraq_study_group_report.pdf>

Carl

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