Facing tough time in collecting intelligence information from regions across the globe,the top US spy body CIA has said it would build up its foreign language capabilities,especially in Urdu,Persian,Chinese,Russian,Pushto and Arabic,under an "aggressive" 5-year plan. The plan not only includes imparting foreign language training to its officials,but also recruiting a new team of officials who are skilled in these languages; which would help CIA smoothly gather intelligence information from regions,where English is not majorly spoken but they are considered critical for America's security needs. Observing that deep expertise in foreign languages is fundamental to CIA's success,the agency's new Director,Leon E Panetta,announced "an aggressive plan to build the truly multilingual workforce" the CIA needs at this point of time. "To gather intelligence and understand a complex world,CIA must have more officers who read,speak,and understand foreign languages. Our national security demands nothing less," Panetta said on Friday. Under the plan,Panetta said CIA in the next five years would double the number of analysts and collectors who are proficient in languages,particularly those that are mission critical. In the next five years,the CIA would increase by 50 per cent the number of people with the right language skills serving in language-use positions and dramatically transform the way CIA trains its officers in foreign language capability. "Whether an officer is conducting a meeting in a foreign capital,analysing plans of a foreign government,or translating a foreign broadcast,language capability is critical to every aspect of our mission," he said. "Language skills are the keys to accessing foreign societies,understanding their governments and decoding their secrets. Stronger language skills will give our officers enhanced access to the information our policymakers need to protect our nation," Panetta said. To reach these goals,Panetta said CIA will increase the number of officers in full-time language training. The number of officers from the National Clandestine Service in full-time training will increase by 50 per cent and the number of analysts from the Directorate of Intelligence in full-time training will triple. "Another major initiative will be to recruit and retain new officers who have critical language skills. We cannot train our way out of this problem," Panetta said. The special focus would be given to languages like Urdu,Persian,Chinese,Russian,Pushto and Arabic.
