Lack of Arabic speakers is a crack in U.S. security.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

Byline: Daniel Sneider

MONTEREY, Calif. _ If the United States is going to win the war with Islamic extremism, it will need a lot more soldiers like Aimee Sullivan. Her weapon of choice is not an automatic rifle or an armored vehicle. Pvt. Sullivan is armed instead with a knowledge of Arabic grammar and an appreciation of Arab culture.

"I like grammar," the 29-year-old Mississippi native says with a laugh. "It's like a puzzle."

Sullivan is one of 830 soldiers enrolled in Arabic courses at the Army's Defense Language Institute, a picturesque complex overlooking Monterey Bay that proudly proclaims itself the world's largest foreign language school. The mostly young men and women hunched over their Arab ...