U.S. spy agencies widen recruiting

[sabra]

Source: Baltimore Sun

Native speakers now given scholarships, easier path through security screenings

A second-generation Egyptian-American, he grew up speaking Arabic at home, graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a political science degree and then spent five months in Egypt in an elite federal scholarship program to encourage careers in national security.

A professor with strong CIA contacts urged Saman to consider a job there. But when he sought advice, through the professor, about applying, five CIA officers said: He'll never make it through security; don't even bother.

So Saman, 24, went to law school at George Washington University instead.

"He's super smart," said Amy Zegart, his former professor at UCLA. "He's exactly the kind of guy you'd want."

The director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, will soon unveil his "100-day plan" for intelligence reform. As part of it, he is expected to roll out new measures to increase hiring of first- and second-generation Americans with language and cultural fluency in critical areas, such as the Middle East, intelligence officials said.


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