How’s this for a Catch-22?
To be a linguist for the FBI, you typically need to spend a few years in a foreign country, creating ties with the residents and learning the language.
But living and developing ties in some foreign countries can raise red flags within the FBI, sometimes delaying career advancements, the Atlantic reports.
FBI employees with ties to some countries are placed in a program, Post-Adjudication Risk Management, or PARM, which requires employees to undergo additional polygraph tests, security screenings and other scrutiny.
“Thirteen years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, it’s worth asking whether such security safeguards do more harm than good,” the Atlantic ponders.