Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for August 13, 2024

“Wait a minute- whaddya mean there’re Sunnis and Shias? Muslims is Muslim; it’s as simple as that.”

The CIA should consult the IDF.

they’ll put him the state dept course. fluent in 6 months. english will seem like a “foreign” language when you get out of it.

The “required qualifications” is often a wish list. They know they’re not going to get anyone who can do all they want. They might as well throw in, “and dance like Fred Astaire.”

The exploding pen would have been enough for a file 13 of that application.

The people who import from the poppy extraction business probably have the needed background …

Ouch…

The secret service requires no experience either for guarding Presidents.

Reminds me of my college roommate who wanted to get a job with the U.S. State Dept. diplomatic corps back in the 1960s. He’d flunked French but told them he spoke Serbo-Croatian. He didn’t, but he figured that the language was so obscure that no one at State would know.

Apparently, they didn’t. They hired him and he went on to have a long, fruitful career as a diplomat. He was never posted in Bosnia.

Nope, they don’t want anyone who might have any pre-conceived notions. They will teach ‘expertise’ in Islam, and regional relations.

Friend of mine went into the Air Force after high school, and was assigned to intelligence. The US would, of course never spy on an ally, so there was no Hebrew course available. Instead he studied “Special Arabic”…….

Jeff may not have those skills, but I’ll wager the RED RASCAL does…

Duh. That’s why they are looking. Oh, if you can turn invisible and fly, that would also be good. :)

2 losers destined to always be slacker kids! In 24 years they’ll still be sponging off of helicopter Mommy & Daddy! Also known as “Their retirement plan” … ;-)

George W Bush: Sunni? Shia? What are those?

This is why most field agents are recruited locally. Along with advisors to clowns like Havoc.

I’m fluent in the poems of Henry Gibson. When do I start?