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Article: 'Lawrences of the World': U.S. Special Operations Command seeks culturally attuned warriors.(Special Operations)
- Article from:
- National Defense
- Article date:
- April 1, 2009
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2009 National Defense Industrial Association. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A British soldier who galvanized Arab tribes in the Middle East to fight the Turks during World War I inspired the 1962 film "Lawrence of Arabia."
Now the tale is spurring U.S. Special Operations Command officials to consider modeling its troops after T. E. Lawrence, himself--an intelligence officer whose intimate familiarity of Arabic culture allowed him to build long-term relationships with key political and military figures in the Middle East.
"We need to develop what I call the Lawrences of the world," said Adm. Eric Olson, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command. "We need Lawrences of every region, every country of the world ... and we need ...