"In order to accomplish our vital intelligence mission we want to market
our employment opportunities to speakers of Arabic, Russian, Korean,
Pashtu and Urdu," George Little, a CIA spokesman, told The Times. "We
want to emphasise to those communities that we welcome first-generation
Americans to apply. They bring critical language skills and a knowledge
of culture to support our intelligence mission."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article60111
86.ece

From Times Online
March 31, 2009
CIA launches recruitment drive on internet and TV
Tim Reid in Washington

The CIA is attempting to recruit more spies by advertising on the
internet, radio and television, and by holding meetings with American
Muslims to make up a severe shortage of Arabic speakers.

In a bid to fulfil a pledge by George W. Bush, the former President, to
expand the agency's clandestine arm, advertisements have been placed on
websites such as Career Builder, and on the online versions of The
Economist and The Washington Post.

Leon Panetta, the new CIA director, will meet Muslim groups in cities
such as Detroit to spearhead personally the new drive to recruit Arabic
speakers. He recently lamented the fact that only 13 per cent of CIA
officers speak a foreign language, and just 22 per cent come from
minorities.

"In order to accomplish our vital intelligence mission we want to market
our employment opportunities to speakers of Arabic, Russian, Korean,
Pashtu and Urdu," George Little, a CIA spokesman, told The Times.

"We want to emphasise to those communities that we welcome
first-generation Americans to apply. They bring critical language skills
and a knowledge of culture to support our intelligence mission."

A typical recruiting advertisement recently posted on the Chronicle of
Higher Education's website is headlined "Central Intelligence Agency,
National Clandestine Service Careers, Linguists. You Can Make a World of
Difference. Are you up to the challenge of achieving our mission
abroad?"

It adds: "This career track offers rewarding, fast-paced, and
high-impact challenges." The CIA is also advertising on the social
networking site Facebook and YouTube.

Earlier this month Scott White, third in command at the CIA, held
meetings with Arab-American and Chaldean-American representatives in
Detroit, which has heavily populated American Muslim suburbs. He told
the groups that he would bring Mr Panetta to a future meeting.

Mr Little said that the CIA holds about 2,000 recruiting events a year,
often at universities across the country. It also advertises for
recruits on billboards at airports. Last year, the agency received about
120,000 applications. This year it is on course to receive at least
180,000.

The CIA is still recovering from morale problems and an exodus of senior
officials during a series of bruising battles with the Bush White House
about the intelligence used to justify the Iraq war.

As the US focuses its attention on Afghanistan and Pakistan, senior
members of President Obama's Administration are conceding that their
on-the-ground knowledge of Afghanistan in particular is minimal.

Dennis Blair, Mr Obama's Director of National Intelligence, told
reporters last week that the US lacks a deep understanding of local
power structures in Afghanistan and of the militants operating along
that country's border with Pakistan.