CIA Commercials to Recruit US Arabs, Iranians

posted on: Nov 10, 2009

The CIA plans a Detroit-area premiere for two TV commercials aimed at recruiting Arab- and Iranian-Americans.

The private screening will be held Nov. 18 in Dearborn, the heart of Michigan’s large Middle Eastern community.

The commercials are part of a major outreach effort by the CIA that’s included a high-profile visit to Dearborn in September by CIA Director Leon Panetta. He urged Arab-American and Muslim leaders to join efforts to reduce the threat of terrorism in the U.S.

The agency has a five-year plan to boost fluency in Arabic and other languages deemed critical to its work. Panetta wants to raise foreign language proficiency inside the CIA from less than a third to at least half of all analysts and intelligence operatives.

Chicago Tribune