Article: Intelligence Agencies Urged to Hire Minorities; Diversity Strengthens Efforts, CIA Officials Say [Correction 9/6/07] [Correction 9/6/07]

U.S. spy agencies need to recruit more racial and ethnic minorities, especially first-generation Americans whose language skills and cultural backgrounds could help fill critical gaps in knowledge and analysis, two top intelligence officials said.

Despite efforts in the past six years to diversify the workforce, only 14 percent of those in the CIA's officer corps are minorities, said Jose Rodriguez, director of the CIA's National Clandestine Service, the agency's foreign espionage unit.

"Nothing is more important to the intelligence profession than cultivating different perspectives on the foreign threats and challenges facing our nation," he said Monday at a border security conference. ...

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