SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- "Learning somebody else's language is a kind gesture," stated U.S. President George W. Bush, because it suggests "I care about you."
Bush said these words as he proposed to boost the study of foreign languages as a tool to combat terrorism. The expansion in the study of certain critical languages would be facilitated with $114 million the president is planning to request for 2007.
The money is not much, but more significant than the dollars is the realization that war on terrorism is a war of ideas and languages are the key to fighting it.