WASHINGTON -- Kevin Saman is one who got away.
A second-generation Egyptian-American, he grew up speaking Arabic at home, graduated from the University of California at Los Angeles with a political science degree and then spent five months in Egypt in an elite federal scholarship program to encourage careers in national security.
A professor with strong CIA contacts urged Saman to consider a job there. But when he sought advice, through the professor, about applying, five CIA officers said: He'll never make it through security; don't even bother.
So Saman, 24, went to law school at George Washington University instead.
"He's super smart," said Amy Zegart, his former professor at UCLA. "He's exactly the kind of guy you'd want."
The director of national intelligence, Mike McConnell, will soon unveil his "100-day plan" for intelligence reform. As part of it, he is expected to roll out new measures to increase hiring of first- and second-generation Americans with language and cultural fluency in critical areas, such as the Middle East, intelligence officials said.
Before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the lack of intelligence officers with such expertise was "one of the most serious issues" limiting agencies' ability to analyze terrorist threats, according to a 2002 congressional report on U.S. intelligence failures. Presidential commissions issued similar warnings in 2004 and 2005.
Since Sept. 11, there has been progress, but "it's uneven" said David Shedd, McConnell's chief of staff.
The hiring proposal is still being worked on, but it will incorporate lessons from early successes in new recruiting initiatives at the CIA, the FBI and the National Security Agency, officials said.
"The diversity of our country, particularly with first- and second-generation Americans, is a strategic advantage for us," said Ron Sanders, the director's chief of work force planning.
Infusing intelligence ranks with native speakers of sought-after languages, officials said, is a twofold challenge: encouraging them to apply, and getting them through the arduous security screening.
Saman's case shows the relationship between the two.
His parents immigrated to Orange County, Calif., in the 1970s, and his mother's family resides in the United States. But his father's family lives in Egypt, and Zegart was told that that would disqualify Saman.
