CIA Chief to Reach Out to Arabs, Chaldeans

posted on: Sep 10, 2009

Saying that diversity is vital to national security, the head of the CIA is set to meet with Arab-American and Chaldean advocates next week in Dearborn as part of an ongoing effort to engage metro Detroiters who have roots in the Middle East.

CIA Director Leon Panetta is to speak at a dinner Wednesday with about 150 community leaders in the Bint Jebail Cultural Center, a Lebanese-American hall in Dearborn.

“We look forward to a good meeting with Mr. Panetta,” said Imad Hamad, regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, who was invited to attend. The CIA sees “the value of the community.”

In recent years, the CIA has tried to increasingly recruit Arab Americans as the United States has become involved in conflicts across the Arab and Muslim worlds.

Metro Detroit is “filled with patriots with the skills our country needs,” CIA spokesman George Little said.

The CIA has been a big sponsor of Arab-American events in metro Detroit in recent years, including the Arab International Festival in June.

“Diversity helps us do a better job of keeping this country safe,” Panetta said this month in Washington, D.C., at the annual conference of the Historically Black Colleges and Universities, according to a CIA transcript. “Good intelligence requires officers from diverse backgrounds.”

Hamad said that some Arab Americans are skeptical of the CIA because some fear being spied on. But he added that others are eager to work with the agency.

Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press