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Uncertainty of Gitmo Leave Security Shaky

Aired September 30, 2003 - 14:14   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. military may have a big problem on its hands now that another person has been arrested on suspicion of spying at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. The latest arrest happened at Boston's Logan Airport.
What's unknown is whether the arrests point to a larger conspiracy at Alcatraz for terrorists. Colonel Pat Lang, who formerly served as the Pentagon's chief of Middle East intelligence. Joining us from Washington with more on the case, specifically to talk about the issue of how many interpreters the U.S. military has, specifically Arabic interpreters. Colonel Lang, good to have you back with us.

COL. PAT LANG (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Always good to be here.

O'BRIEN: Is this an area where the U.S. military needs a little beefing up, perhaps?

LANG: Well, it's a longstanding problem, you know. There is a problem of interpreters, translators. But people who do that are people who take one set of words and move them from one language to the other.

The real issue is substantive officers in the military such as I used to be. I was a member of specialists in the Arab world, but it was a very small program. We have very few officers who can sit in meetings and interrogations and things like have any idea of what the translators are saying. So really they can say what they like and you wouldn't have the slightest idea what they're talking about.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: They could be spies engaging in a whole discussion on how to information to Damascus and you wouldn't know it?

LANG: Absolutely. No way whatever. As long as expression and gestures were controlled and they appeared to be responding to questions you gave to the person being interrogated. You would have no idea what they were talk about. I suspect that's happened.

O'BRIEN: How many commissioned officers do you suppose are fluent in Arabic in the military? You have a ballpark estimate?

LANG: I only know in the Army, really. In the Army, with real fluency so people could actually work in the language, if there are 50 officers in the Army who could do that I would be really very surprised.

O'BRIEN: And I suspect all 50 are very, very valuable officers right at the moment.

Is this a reflection of our society as a whole? Let's face it, Americans in general usually speak one language and it's not like Europeans who have a couple. Or is there greater indifference here, a sense that military technology is more important than learning the human skills?

LANG: Throughout my career in the Army and later in the senior civil service, it was clear to me that people didn't think that foreign cultures were terribly important. There is a certain amount of lip service about. In fact, people were not favored in such a way as to ensure that senior officers like General John Abizaid would occur in more than the single instance of his particular being.

And so there's a very few officers who have any capability at all.

O'BRIEN: Do you have a hunch if there were more commissioned officers at Guantanamo who had the fluency, that this whole thing, whatever it is, espionage or not, conspiracy or not, would have happened in the first place?

LANG: I'm quite sure it is true it would not have happened in fact because without that sort of skill, you really can't supervise what's going on, and anything can be going on behind your back.

And when you start employing necessity people who are emigrates from foreign culture that you don't really understand, or people who are just wildly enthusiastic for that culture, then you put yourself in a position of great vulnerability. This didn't have to happen.

O'BRIEN: What are the chances that people going into Westpoint right now are going to be signing up for Arabic classes more frequently now?

LANG: Actually the person who started of instruction in Arabic at at Westpoint, and there always was a lot of enthusiasm on the part of really smart, high-ranking cadets to take the language because it was so difficult and a challenge.

But they know in fact that the Army doesn't favor people who do that kind of thing very much. And so that's a profoundly discouraging thing over their careers after they graduate.

O'BRIEN: All right, lots to consider. Colonel Pat Lang, thanks for your insights. We appreciate it.

LANG: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Pat Lang speaks four languages himself would and be in a very narrow minority in the military or retired military. Thank you for joining us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 30, 2003 - 14:14   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The U.S. military may have a big problem on its hands now that another person has been arrested on suspicion of spying at the U.S. Navy base in Cuba. The latest arrest happened at Boston's Logan Airport.
What's unknown is whether the arrests point to a larger conspiracy at Alcatraz for terrorists. Colonel Pat Lang, who formerly served as the Pentagon's chief of Middle East intelligence. Joining us from Washington with more on the case, specifically to talk about the issue of how many interpreters the U.S. military has, specifically Arabic interpreters. Colonel Lang, good to have you back with us.

COL. PAT LANG (RET.), U.S. ARMY: Always good to be here.

O'BRIEN: Is this an area where the U.S. military needs a little beefing up, perhaps?

LANG: Well, it's a longstanding problem, you know. There is a problem of interpreters, translators. But people who do that are people who take one set of words and move them from one language to the other.

The real issue is substantive officers in the military such as I used to be. I was a member of specialists in the Arab world, but it was a very small program. We have very few officers who can sit in meetings and interrogations and things like have any idea of what the translators are saying. So really they can say what they like and you wouldn't have the slightest idea what they're talking about.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: They could be spies engaging in a whole discussion on how to information to Damascus and you wouldn't know it?

LANG: Absolutely. No way whatever. As long as expression and gestures were controlled and they appeared to be responding to questions you gave to the person being interrogated. You would have no idea what they were talk about. I suspect that's happened.

O'BRIEN: How many commissioned officers do you suppose are fluent in Arabic in the military? You have a ballpark estimate?

LANG: I only know in the Army, really. In the Army, with real fluency so people could actually work in the language, if there are 50 officers in the Army who could do that I would be really very surprised.

O'BRIEN: And I suspect all 50 are very, very valuable officers right at the moment.

Is this a reflection of our society as a whole? Let's face it, Americans in general usually speak one language and it's not like Europeans who have a couple. Or is there greater indifference here, a sense that military technology is more important than learning the human skills?

LANG: Throughout my career in the Army and later in the senior civil service, it was clear to me that people didn't think that foreign cultures were terribly important. There is a certain amount of lip service about. In fact, people were not favored in such a way as to ensure that senior officers like General John Abizaid would occur in more than the single instance of his particular being.

And so there's a very few officers who have any capability at all.

O'BRIEN: Do you have a hunch if there were more commissioned officers at Guantanamo who had the fluency, that this whole thing, whatever it is, espionage or not, conspiracy or not, would have happened in the first place?

LANG: I'm quite sure it is true it would not have happened in fact because without that sort of skill, you really can't supervise what's going on, and anything can be going on behind your back.

And when you start employing necessity people who are emigrates from foreign culture that you don't really understand, or people who are just wildly enthusiastic for that culture, then you put yourself in a position of great vulnerability. This didn't have to happen.

O'BRIEN: What are the chances that people going into Westpoint right now are going to be signing up for Arabic classes more frequently now?

LANG: Actually the person who started of instruction in Arabic at at Westpoint, and there always was a lot of enthusiasm on the part of really smart, high-ranking cadets to take the language because it was so difficult and a challenge.

But they know in fact that the Army doesn't favor people who do that kind of thing very much. And so that's a profoundly discouraging thing over their careers after they graduate.

O'BRIEN: All right, lots to consider. Colonel Pat Lang, thanks for your insights. We appreciate it.

LANG: Sure.

O'BRIEN: Pat Lang speaks four languages himself would and be in a very narrow minority in the military or retired military. Thank you for joining us.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com