Phil Taylor's papers
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BACK TO : PROPAGANDA AND THE GWOT Year 3 - 2004 (mainly Iraq)
Conquering Hearts and Minds by Ali H Aslan 
ALI H. ASLAN 08.26.2004 Thursday Conquering Hearts and Minds Last week in a speech at U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), a Washington think tank, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice dwelt on the U.S. political strategy in its war against terrorism. Rice concurs with the conclusion reached by the independent September 11 Commission, that a strategy 'political, as much as it is military'' is needed. The commission has called for a 'long-range strategy to engage in a struggle of ideas to defeat Islamic terrorism.' Dr. Rice said this was exactly what Bush administration figured out immediately after the September 11 attacks and the President launched a "Forward Strategy for the Middle East" initiative. The Greater Middle East Initiative is nothing but an extension of this strategy. Emphasizing that U.S. efforts in the Islamic world should be focused on the following two areas, Rice said: "First, we must work to dispel destructive myths about American society and about American policy. Second, we must expand dramatically our efforts to support and encourage the voices of moderation and tolerance and pluralism within the Muslim world." The facts on the ground indicate that the United States is yet weak in both areas. Concerning the first lap of the issue, many reports were prepared, one after the other, by think tank organizations and official units after the September 11. How the U.S. image hit rock bottom in the Islamic world was revealed. As a primary solution, to strengthen the public diplomacy element, a form of official propaganda, was recommended. Charlotte Beers, a successful advertiser from the private sector, was imported as Undersecretary of Public Diplomacy at the U.S. State Department. After doing things like producing films, which try to prove the war against terrorism is not a Crusade, Beers quit after 17 months of service. The stated reason for her resignation was health problems; however, it was obvious that she resigned due to inadequate funding from the government and inability to obtain the desired results. Especially in the budgets allocated for the cultural exchange programs, there was no remarkable improvement. In her presentation to Congress on February 4, 2004, Margaret Tutwiller, Beers' successor, complained about the government allocating $316 million for exchange programs in the 2004 fiscal year. Only $79 million of this amount is being spent on educational and cultural exchange programs in the Islamic world, a population of 1.2 billions. On the other hand, the budget solely for the Department of Homeland Security, established after September 11, was set to be $30 billion. The Bush administration likens the political dimension of the fight against terrorism to the Cold War; however, while they are fully mobilized for the hot wars, political, material and intellectual capital allocated to the psychological war operations in the Islamic world are significantly lower than the efforts that were exerted to destroy the communist ideology. Saying, "I am a student of the Cold War," Rice hinted that the U.S. destroyed the iron curtain thanks to many bright brains -including herself- who specialized in the languages of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and other regional countries. However, let alone the United States government, there is a remarkably small number of people, even at the most famous universities, who are acquainted with Islamic culture and regional languages. Many key positions on this area are occupied with academicians of ethnic origin, who evaluate the issue with mostly Jewish or Arab prejudices. Policies (including public diplomacy) produced without knowing the region well and without the backing of objective academic studies are destined to be unsuccessful. The damage done to the U.S. through wrong policies cannot be eradicated, even if the best propaganda tactics in the world are used. What is even worse is that the hawks in the Bush administration, do not take the opinions of many of the rare distinguished experts into consideration. Let's now elaborate on the second area that Dr. Rice said is necessary to dwell upon, which is supporting and encouraging the voices of moderation and tolerance and pluralism within the Muslim world. In this area as well, the military and police mindset beats wisdom. Aren't voices of moderation and tolerance in the Islamic world muted, when Rumsfeld's Pentagon and Ashcroft's FBI treat every Muslim on earth and in the U.S. as a potential enemy and terrorist? As for the pluralism, the foreign policy elite walks with frequent halts like the Turkish Janissary band, out of the concern that it might result in religious regimes in the Islamic world. While the secularist circles in the region are still being considered as the most loyal allies of the West, one does not see a serious effort for communication with the alienated religious circles, who should be the primary targets. The representatives of moderation and tolerance, who can influence large masses, are generally looked upon with suspicion and mistrust. As a result of this, communication efforts, which are already limited, end up fruitless. The disturbing expressions such as "Islamic terrorism," hinder communication from the outset. To sum up, if the United States wants to conquer hearts and minds in the Islamic world, she should first start the job by controlling its own heart, mind and tongue. Otherwise, policies produced as solutions to curb fanaticism and terrorism are bound to fail. August 23, 2004 |