Re: Assimilation. I see nothing wrong with immigrants retaining the language they brought with them, and teaching it to their children . . . as long as they also learn English. During WWI, many states had laws that made it illegal to speak German. Apparently no one bothered to consider the fact that maybe--just maybe--having some native speakers of German in the military might come in handy when we capture Hans and Fritz and want to ask them some questions.
As for Muslims and their value to our side in this conflict, I submit the following from Feb 02 and the start of Operation Anaconda in Afghanistan . . . from the viewpoint of our Special Operations forces:
"As they neared the entrance to Peanut valley, their interpreter, an Afghan . . . announced that there were "two Al Qaeda bases up the valley and the AQ were watching them at that time." To the Americans, the locals' ability to determine Al Qaeda at a distance and by location was sometimes uncanny. When Kris asked the Afghan how he could distinguish local Afghans from foreigners like Al Qaeda, he said: "It's easy, and I can tell from one kilometer away by the way they act, look, and walk." This ability was proved time and again, and once saved a Special Forces patrol when he correctly identified, specifically, Chechens and Uzbeks at a distance and prevented them from being ambushed."
That's from a book entitled "Alone at Dawn", which focuses on the Combat Controllers: the Air Force Special Operations personnel who mark targets and call in the close air support our forces (and those of our allies) have counted on to save their lives in places like Afghanistan and Iraq. (And before that, in Southeast Asia.)
That's the value of the "terps" who work with our forces in the Muslim world . . . literally thousands of whom have earned their way to this country under special immigrant visa programs. But are currently stuck in the pipeline--after putting their lives on the line for our men and women in uniform--because of requirements for additional "vetting". The vetting they've already undergone to EARN those special visas is very extensive.
Brian, I appreciate your views. I've also spent significant time in the Muslim world . . . much of it working with Muslims who were reporting intelligence of value to us. Before I went overseas, I was working on Libya from CIA HQ shortly after Qadhafi took over. We had managed to exfiltrate a number of our Libyan agents who were in obvious danger once the government changed hands. We brought them to the states and aided in resettling them. Fortunately, we didn't have to worry about special visas, because CIA has the authority to bring in a certain number of foreign nationals annually without all the red tape. The military credo of leaving no one behind, in my view, should apply equally to those Muslims who've risked their own lives, and those of their families, to help us. If we want allies anywhere in the world--and it's beyond difficult working abroad if you don't speak the language and don't understand the culture--then they need to know that they can count on us. Following the war in Southeast Asia, we brought a large number of Hmongs and Vietnamese to this country. My hometown has a large number of Bosnians (Muslims), who came here after our military intervened to keep them from being slaughtered by their Christian Serb and Croat neighbors. It sometimes turns out that the good guys aren't necessarily those who go to the same church we do. They might well be those who go to a mosque.
Last edited by L. Brown; 09/12/19 03:53 PM.
