(In) the war of ideas or the struggle for hearts and minds, American efforts have not only failed, they may also have achieved the opposite of what they intended.
American direct intervention in the Muslim world has paradoxically elevated the stature of, and support for, radical Islamists, while diminishing support for the United States to single digits in some Arab societies.
Muslims do not `hate our freedoms', but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favour 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.
The UK's The Sunday Herald has unearthed a "strategic communications" report, written this autumn by the Defense Science Board for Donald Rumsfeld.
What follows are quotes lifted from that article. If anyone can find the full text of the original memo, please let me know.
Thus when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy. Moreover, saying that `freedom is the future of the Middle East' is seen as patronizing ... in the eyes of Muslims, the American occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has not led to democracy there, but only more chaos and suffering. US 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.
American actions have elevated the authority of the jihadi insurgents and tended to ratify their legitimacy among Muslims.
Muslims see Americans as strangely narcissistic, (to the Arab world the war is) no more than an extension of American domestic politics.
We face a war on terrorism, intensified conflict with Islam, and insurgency in Iraq. Worldwide anger and discontent are directed at America's tarnished credibility and ways the US pursues its goals. There is a consensus that America's power to persuade is in a state of crisis.
The war has increased mistrust of America in Europe, weakened support for the war on terrorism and undermined US credibility worldwide.
The US finds itself in the strategically awkward - and potentially dangerous - situation of being the long-standing prop and alliance partner of these authoritarian regimes (like Saudi Arabia). Without the US, these regimes could not survive.
Thus the US has strongly taken sides in a desperate struggle ... US policies and actions are increasingly seen by the overwhelming majority of Muslims as a threat to the survival of Islam itself ... Americans have inserted themselves into this intra-Islamic struggle in ways that have made us an enemy to most Muslims.
There is no yearning-to- be-liberated-by-the-US groundswell among Muslim societies ... The perception of intimate US support of tyrannies in the Muslim world is perhaps the critical vulnerability in American strategy. It strongly undercuts our message, while strongly promoting that of the enemy.
Americans are convinced that the US is a benevolent `superpower' that elevates values emphasising freedom ... deep down we assume that everyone should naturally support our policies. Yet the world of Islam - by overwhelming majorities at this time - sees things differently. Muslims see American policies as inimical to their values, American rhetoric about freedom and democracy as hypocritical and American actions as deeply threatening.
"In two years the jihadi message - that strongly attacks American values - is being accepted by more moderate and non-violent Muslims. This in turn implies that negative opinion of the US has not yet bottomed out
(Equally important is) to renew European attitudes towards America. Al-Qaeda constantly outflanks the US in the war of information.
Our military expeditions to Afghanistan and Iraq are unlikely to be the last such excursion in the global war on terrorism.
I know, you know, all reasonable know that Bush & Co. don't buy their own rhetoric. And yet there's something about seeing it in print that drives home just how deep and pervasive their willingness to lie right to our face is.
Or, perhaps, the Defense Science Board is just giving aid to the terrorists too.
Beware the person who offers simple solutions to complex problems. IBE