The US Central Intelligence Agency is making a concerted effort to recruit minorities to aid in the American "war on terror," the agency's top spy said in an interview published Monday.
"Somebody with firsthand knowledge of another language and culture -- they immediately have a tremendous advantage. We want them very much," Director of the National Clandestine Service Jose Rodriguez told USA Today newspaper.
But even though one in four secret agents recruited this year has been a minority, the CIA runs into problems attracting qualified candidates due to red tape and competition from the business world, he said.
"We have to work really hard to get minorities," he said. "There is competition with the corporate world, and our own process of getting people cleared (through background checks) still takes too long."
This year, 27 percent of new secret agent hires were minorities, compared to just 13 percent in 2006, according to Rodriguez who said that figure is unprecedented.
However, just about five percent of US employed spies are of Asian origin, the newspaper said. Rodriguez declined to give specific numbers, citing security concerns.
The CIA was the target of harsh criticism after the attacks of September 11, 2001, under fire from detractors who said it lacked qualified spies who could have intercepted information about an Al-Qaeda terror threat.
Despite the CIA's rapid growth since then, it is expected to fall short of the goal set by US President George W. Bush of increasing its size by 50 percent ahead of 2010, Rodriguez said.
