The Foreign Service Journal, March 2008

M A R C H 2 0 0 8 / F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L 11 Rent-a-Corps? The Department of Defense is working on a $19 million pilot project to create a new corps of individuals fluent in critical foreign languages who could be called upon in an emer- gency ( www.govexec.com ) . If all goes according to the 2007 Defense Authorization Act mandate, at least 1,000 people will be members of the National Language Service Corps by 2010. So far, a concept of operations, including how to recruit, test and cer- tify people with foreign language skills has been determined, DOD Director of the National Security Language Program Robert Slater told Govern- ment Executive on Jan. 15, and the list of languages deemed critical is being finalized. Arabic — “a heavily recruited language already,” says Slater — will not be on the list, how- ever. Incentives for recruitment include, according to Slater, competitive com- pensation and the advantage of being identified with an organization that values foreign-language skills, as well as the use of government-funded soft- ware to maintain those skills. According to Gail McGinn, deputy undersecretary of Defense for plans and head of the Defense Senior Language Authority, the project has benefits for the rest of the govern- ment even though it’s being run with- in DOD. “We looked at other agencies to determine what their needs might be,” she said. “We’re working to under- stand how [other agencies] can use this corps of people and bring them in when there are national needs.” A Step for FS Victims of Terrorism On Aug. 7, 1998, terrorists target- ed the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam. It was the most devastating attack ever launched against any U.S. diplomatic facilities and, arguably, the opening of al- Qaida’s global offensive against the West. More than 5,000 individuals were seriously wounded, and 224 people lost their lives — Foreign Ser- vice, Foreign Service Nationals and local citizens alike. After a decade of lobbying by the families of the victims, on Oct. 2 the House of Representatives passed the Foreign Service Victims of Ter- rorism Act of 2007 (H.R. 2828) almost unanimously. The legislation institutionalizes a comprehensive compensation scheme for the vic- tims of the 1998 attacks. The mea- sure also enhances death-gratuity compensation provisions for current Foreign Service employees killed by acts of terror. The measure is, however, stalled in the Senate. After it passed through committee, a hold was placed on the floor by an unnamed senator for rea- sons unknown, according to AFSA’s sources. In a Jan. 29 op-ed in the Washing- ton Times , Howard C. Kavaler, a retired Foreign Service officer and representative of the victims’ families who lost his own wife, FS officer Prabhi Kavaler, in Nairobi, excoriates the State Department’s lack of sup- port for the legislation. “Absent a comprehensive program to compensate Foreign Service vic- tims of international terrorism,” he writes ( www.washingtontimes.com ) , “is it no small wonder that members of the Foreign Service with familial responsibilities are not beating down the doors to serve in wartorn areas?” Foreign Policy and the 2008 Elections With primary campaigns shifting gears and the choices in the Novem- C YBERNOTES P rotecting our nation from the dangers of a new century requires more than good intelli- gence and a strong military. It also requires changing the con- ditions that breed resentment and allow extremists to prey on despair. So America is using its influence to build a freer, more hopeful and more compassion- ate world. This is a reflection of our national interest; it is the calling of our conscience. — President George W. Bush, in his Jan. 28 State of the Union address, www.white house.gov/news/releases/ 2008/01/20080128-13.html