I thought this NYT article about Fadwa Hamdan--a Muslim woman originally from Jordan who, at the age of 39, enlisted in the U.S. Army to become an Arabic translator--was fascinating, as it showed how the military gave Hamdan the self-confidence to overcome some of the handicaps she experienced as a woman due to her faith and her family. But the end of the piece is pretty unexpected--and disturbing. After six months of intensive English-language training at an Air Force base in Texas, Hamdan was unable to score high enough on an English proficiency test and now she's being kicked to the curb:

Ms. Hamdan will be discharged on Dec. 15. She is unsure of what the future holds. She may stay in Texas and look for a job. She may no longer wear a hijab in public. All she knows is that she is different now, and no less a Muslim for it. "I can face men," she said. "I can fight. I can talk. I don't keep it inside." She thought for a moment. "I changed myself," she said. "I'm a new Fadwa. Strong female. I like this."

I'm glad Hamdan's short stint in the U.S. military changed her life for the better, but this is still a very depressing outcome. As the article reports, the Army is in desperate need of Arabic translators. And the Army has already invested six months of training in Hamdan. They gave her an extra month to pass her English proficiency test and she wasn't able to. But isn't it worth giving her--and others like her--more time? You obviously don't want to throw good money after bad, but training Hamdan for all this time and then cutting her loose seems like a waste. --Jason Zengerle