Voting for Bush based on his policies (or worse, just because you "liked" him) hasn't made us safer but less so. Or that's what a Pentagon report says. I repeat, before my conservative friends explode with a Limbaugh-incensed harumph, this is a PENTAGON report. The war in Iraq hasn't limited Muslim terrorists and terrorism, it's elevated them from being crazies on the fringe into an international movement. It's the exact opposite of the rationale that was used to invade Iraq (if you still believe an honest rationale was ever in place). We could have worked with our own patriotic Arab Americans (there are millions of them) to reach out to the specific Muslim areas that they came from (and who still have friends and relatives living there) to boost relations (while engaging in covert intelligence in the process, thus increasing BETTER CIA ties in trouble spots around the world with culturally and language-fluent "ground" personnel). This administration, according to the Pentagon report, is failing to create a more secure America and world by its lack of understanding of the complexities of the dangerous problems confronting it and how to deal with such in a responsible manner. Engaging the Muslim world less while blowing up more of it, acting like an insensitive asses along with supporting the most hated of the Muslim tyrannies (Why? Oil) only creates the hatreds that caused the 9/11 attacks. (I know, I know. So what the #@$% else is new?)
Meanwhile as the war rages our military branches are experiencing a drop in enlistment. Even the nation's various military academies have seen a drop in enrollment. Add in the fact the economy is now officially TANKING (seen the report on the decline of the dollar? The increase in public debt over the last four years -- some 1 trillion dollars -- has been almost all financed by foreigners) and it's looking like an exceptionally bleak four more years.
Reuters
Panel Sees U.S. Losing 'War of Ideas' Among Muslims
Wed Nov 24, 3:33 PM ET
By Will Dunham
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is losing the war of ideas in the Islamic world, failing to elucidate its policies to Muslims wary of American intentions and "self-serving hypocrisy," a Pentagon advisory panel has found.
The Defense Science Board, in a report made available on Wednesday, urged the creation of a "strategic communication" apparatus within the White House and an overhaul of public diplomacy, public affairs and information dissemination efforts by the Pentagon and State Department.
"If we really want to see the Muslim world as a whole and the Arabic-speaking world in particular move more toward our understanding of 'moderation' and 'tolerance,' we must reassure Muslims that this does not mean that they must submit to the American way," the report stated.
The toughly worded report said that while America's efforts to explain its policies have failed, improved public relations efforts cannot sell faulty policies. "Muslims do not hate our freedom, but rather they hate our policies," the panel stated.
"The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights, and the long-standing, even increasing, support for what Muslims collectively see as tyrannies, most notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan and the Gulf states." (Sam note: Just remember our support of the infamous Iranian despot, the Shah, our ignorance of the realities in that world at that times, and look what THAT led to.)
"Thus, when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy," the report stated.
The Bush administration has portrayed the war in Iraq launched last year as a mission to bring democracy to that country in the hope that it could serve as a model to others in the Middle East.
U.S. intervention in the Muslim world, including wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, had actually elevated the stature of radical enemies of America, the report stated.
"In the eyes of Muslims, American occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has not led to democracy there, but only more chaos and suffering. U.S. actions appear in contrast to be motivated by ulterior motives, and deliberately controlled in order to best serve American national interests at the expense of truly Muslim self-determination," the report stated.
The Defense Science Board is made up of civilian experts appointed by the Pentagon, and offers the department advice on scientific, technical and other matters.
WHAT IS PERMISSIBLE?
There has been a debate inside the U.S. government on what actions are permissible in providing information intended to influence allies and foes alike.
In 2002, the Defense Department shut down its new Office of Strategic Influence after critics accused the department of creating a propaganda office to spread lies around the world under the premise of misleading U.S. enemies.
"The information campaign -- or as some still would have it, 'the war of ideas' or the struggle for 'hearts and minds' -- is important to every war effort," but was crucial in the U.S.-declared global war on terrorism, the report said.
"In this war, it is an essential objective because the larger goals of U.S. strategy depend on separating the vast majority of nonviolent Muslims from the radical-militant Islamist-Jihadists," it said.
"But American efforts have not only failed in this respect. They may also have achieved the opposite of what they intended," the report added.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said no decisions have been made on the report's recommendations, but added that "the Pentagon will not deviate from its guiding principle of making information available in a timely and accurate manner."
Copyright © 2004 Reuters Limited.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&e=9&u=/nm/mideast_usa_ideas_dc
For more on the economy and consumer debt:
Debtor Nation
by Robert B. Reich
November 24, 2004
Robert Reich, Paul Krugman, Stephen Roach. All say the economy is tanking. Not might tank. Not eventually tank. It's happening. Here, Robert Reich sketches out the sources of our self-made economic hole. Debt—both consumer and federal. This is the real deal, folks.
Robert B. Reich is the Maurice B. Hexter Professor of Social and Economic Policy at Brandeis University, and was the secretary of labor under former President Bill Clinton.
The holiday buying season is upon us. You might as well spend your cash now because the dollar is dropping like a stone in international currency markets. It’s dropped nearly 30 percent since 2001, and is now at a record low. Even without the recent dour pronouncements of Alan Greenspan and Treasury Secretary John Snow, the greenback is likely to fall further. And the reason is simple: We’re living beyond our means. American consumers are deep in debt. The nation is importing more than we’re exporting. Most importantly, the federal budget deficit is out of control.
Nearly all of the increase in public debt over the last four years -- some 1 trillion dollars -- has been financed by foreigners, lending us the money. But who wants to lend more and more to a drunken sailor? Foreigners are bailing out of dollars. Even the Chinese and Japanese, who have kept lending so we’ll keep buying their exports, are starting to wise up.
American exporters are cheering because a lower dollar makes everything they sell abroad cheaper. But it’s bad for the rest of us because as the dollar drops everything we buy from abroad -- including oil -- becomes that much more expensive. And these higher prices will ripple through the economy, threatening inflation and higher interest rates -- and, ultimately, reducing our living standards.
It’s one of the oldest of economic laws: When you’re living too high on the hog, eventually you’re gonna fall off and find yourself in pig slop... (click for entire article)
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