OT: Driving home tonight, I heard a terrorism expert interviewed on BBC's The World (iirc) who said that the CIA's best Farsi speaker is 72, and there's a real dearth of talent at the agency. We also apparently have very few spies in Iran.
I think we saw that number in the same place, SCMT, and I can't remember where either, but I'm pretty sure it was for people who were actually going to Iraq. But I wouldn't do it, even for that kind of money.
The fact that they have one guy that they can point to as "the best" is the most disturbing thing about that story.
I'm pretty confident that if the CIA is boasting about its assets, especially in superlative terms with identifying details, it means they are bluffing.
Spoken, probably a 7 or 8 out of 10. No one would think that I'm not a native speaker (since I am, in fact, a native speaker), but my Farsi vocabulary is far more limited than my English vocabulary.
Written, probably a 3 out of 10. Not so good. But I could brush up!
Memri? Seriously?
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 10:29 PM
I don't know how they excerpted, but the translation is fine.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 10:33 PM
Selective editing is one of the charges often leveled at them.
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 10:34 PM
Ogged is a self-hating Muslim, teo. That's why he sleeps with the dirty infidels.
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 10:36 PM
OT: Driving home tonight, I heard a terrorism expert interviewed on BBC's The World (iirc) who said that the CIA's best Farsi speaker is 72, and there's a real dearth of talent at the agency. We also apparently have very few spies in Iran.
Posted by CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 10:42 PM
Sounds about right.
Posted by teofilo | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 10:51 PM
CIA's best Farsi speaker
The fact that they have one guy that they can point to as "the best" is the most disturbing thing about that story.
I think the work could be very interesting, but I don't really want to work for the lapdog of the Zionist entity.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 11:05 PM
Have you seen the cash these fuckers are getting offered, ogged? I saw a number like 180K somewhere.
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 11:07 PM
7: Yeah, you'd have to change your name to zogged.
Posted by M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 11:10 PM
I think we saw that number in the same place, SCMT, and I can't remember where either, but I'm pretty sure it was for people who were actually going to Iraq. But I wouldn't do it, even for that kind of money.
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 11:12 PM
Crap. Pluto is now officially a "dwarf planet".
Posted by M/tch M/lls | Link to this comment | 08-24-06 11:27 PM
How fluent are you in Farsi, Ogged?
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 08-25-06 6:09 AM
The fact that they have one guy that they can point to as "the best" is the most disturbing thing about that story.
I'm pretty confident that if the CIA is boasting about its assets, especially in superlative terms with identifying details, it means they are bluffing.
Posted by neil | Link to this comment | 08-25-06 7:14 AM
I'm pretty sure there's enough material on this blog to disqualify you from a position at the CIA, ogged.
Posted by Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 08-25-06 7:28 AM
14: Depends how tight the market is.
Posted by SomeCallMeTim | Link to this comment | 08-25-06 8:06 AM
15: I will see your autistics and raise you these skinheads.
Posted by Felix | Link to this comment | 08-25-06 8:11 AM
How fluent are you in Farsi, Ogged?
Spoken, probably a 7 or 8 out of 10. No one would think that I'm not a native speaker (since I am, in fact, a native speaker), but my Farsi vocabulary is far more limited than my English vocabulary.
Written, probably a 3 out of 10. Not so good. But I could brush up!
Posted by ogged | Link to this comment | 08-25-06 11:40 AM