The original story of gaffe on Arabic translators appeared in ABCNews site:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/ 2008/05/obama-gaffes-on.html
The presence of foreign fighters in Afghanistan was the reason Obama campaign provided in their pushback (see link to ABCNEWS above). Let me quote directly from the article:
... ABC News' David Wright responds: ...As for the point about Arabic translators needed for Afghanistan, the Obama campaign points to the well-documented presence of foreign fighters there, many of whom do speak Arabic. However, these folks are mostly shooting at NATO troops, not talking to them. No doubt there are a handful of Arabic speakers employed at Bagram and Kandahar and other detention centers to interrogate foreign fighters captured on the battlefield. But I have not seen any reports that there is a shortage of such personnel, or that the need for such translators in Iraq has hamstrung the interrogators in Afghanistan. Foreign fighters captured in BOTH Iraq and Afghanistan have also been sent to detention centers such as the one in Guantanamo. Is there a shortage of Arabic translators there or at other U.S. detention facilities overseas? That would be an interesting news story. Again, I haven't seen any proof of it.
...As for the point about Arabic translators needed for Afghanistan, the Obama campaign points to the well-documented presence of foreign fighters there, many of whom do speak Arabic. However, these folks are mostly shooting at NATO troops, not talking to them.
No doubt there are a handful of Arabic speakers employed at Bagram and Kandahar and other detention centers to interrogate foreign fighters captured on the battlefield. But I have not seen any reports that there is a shortage of such personnel, or that the need for such translators in Iraq has hamstrung the interrogators in Afghanistan.
Foreign fighters captured in BOTH Iraq and Afghanistan have also been sent to detention centers such as the one in Guantanamo. Is there a shortage of Arabic translators there or at other U.S. detention facilities overseas? That would be an interesting news story. Again, I haven't seen any proof of it.
(bold mine)
That was not the only gaffe. The other involved the agricultural specialists that Obama claimed were needed in Afghanistan, and instead used in Iraq. See the link to ABCnews. It's good.
The link at NoQuarter which discusses the article is here:
http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/05/14/ obamas-embarrassing-gaffes-continue/
As for the point about Arabic translators needed for Afghanistan, the Obama campaign points to the well-documented presence of foreign fighters there, many of whom do speak Arabic. However, these folks are mostly shooting at NATO troops, not talking to them.
... then what?
Indeed. You don't always have the luxury of taking them to Guantánamo before speaking to them. Sometimes time is of the essence.
