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Mohamad Atta.
Hanji Hanjour.
Ahmed Alhaznawi.
After nearly
five years, we
no longer
remember all
their names. But
we remember
their faces. And
we will never
forget their
eyes.
They are the
eyes of killers.
They are the
eyes of the 19
hijackers who
commandeered
four planes on
September 11,
2001, taking the
lives of over
3,000 people and
taking us into a
war which we
continue to
fight to this
day.
In their eyes,
we see not just
the hatred we
face, but the
challenge we
must overcome.
It is the
challenge of
winning the
hearts and minds
of those who
think us evil;
of men and women
who would do us
harm; of
children who
want nothing
more than to
grow up and
sacrifice their
lives in the
struggle against
a country
they’ve been
taught to
believe is
Satan.
It is the
challenge Karen
Hughes faces in
her job as
Undersecretary
of State for
Public Diplomacy
and Public
Affairs.
Appointed to her
position by the
President in
March 2005,
Hughes’ job is
to promote the
U.S. and our
democratic
system of
government
during the
Global War on
Terror. But at
its most basic,
her mission is
to prevent
another
generation of
Mohamad Attas
from taking root
in the Middle
East and
elsewhere around
the world.
Strategic
Imperatives
In speeches
since taking
office and in
testimony on
Capitol Hill,
Hughes has
outlined three
“strategic
imperatives” she
intends to
follow as she
undertakes this
mission and
seeks to
accomplish this
goal. The first
imperative is to
offer people
throughout the
world a positive
vision of hope
and opportunity
that is rooted
in America’s
belief in
freedom,
justice,
opportunity and
respect for all.
Hughes expanded
on this
imperative in a
May 10 speech
before the
Council on
Foreign
Relations in New
York. “People
around the world
need to know
that America
proudly stands
for not only our
own rights,” she
stated, “but
also for human
rights, human
freedom, human
dignity, the
value of every
person
everywhere.”
The second
strategic
imperative is to
isolate and
marginalize
violent
extremists,
while at the
same time
undermining the
attempt by
extremists to
portray the West
as being in
conflict with
Islam. To
achieve this
objective,
Hughes believes
it is critical
that the U.S.
not just empower
mainstream
voices in the
Muslim
community, but
also demonstrate
respect for
Muslim cultures
and their
contributions to
American society
and societies
around the
world. “Theirs
is a message of
destruction and
death,” Hughes
declared to the
Council on
Foreign
Relations last
month, referring
to the
extremists,
“ours a message
of life and
opportunity. And
more and more
people,
including more
and more Muslims
across our
world, are
speaking up and
saying that. And
I think it’s
very important
that we empower
the voices of
our fellow
Americans to
join us in
saying that.”
Hughes’ final
imperative in
this effort is
to foster a
sense of common
interests and
common values
between
Americans and
people of
different
countries,
cultures and
faiths
throughout the
world. “We share
so much,” Hughes
told the House
Committee on
International
Relations during
a hearing last
November.
“People the
world over want
education and
better lives for
our children,
people
everywhere want
to live in
security, we all
want jobs and
economic
opportunity.”
In carrying out
these
imperatives and
meeting this
challenge,
Hughes faces an
uphill battle,
to be sure. In a
well-publicized
meeting with
women’s rights
activists in
Turkey last
September, for
example, Hughes
was sharply
criticized for
the U.S.
invasion of Iraq
and the
instability some
of those in
attendance
believed it has
caused in the
region. More
recently and
closer to home,
the Government
Accountability
Office released
a report in May
in which it
found that the
State
Department’s
public diplomacy
efforts,
“generally
lacked important
strategic
communication
elements found
in the private
sector.” Among
other things,
the GAO found
that State
Department
“posts in the
Muslim world
face several
challenges in
implementing
their public
diplomacy
programs,
including the
need to balance
security with
public outreach
and concerns
related to staff
numbers and
language
capabilities.”
As an example,
the report
pointed out that
“30 percent of
language
designated
public diplomacy
positions in the
Muslim world
were filled by
officers without
the requisite
language
skills.”
More Funding
and New
Initiatives
Hughes will be
the first to
admit that there
is room for
improvement in
the
Administration's
approach.
Indeed, she
said as much in
her speech in
New York last
month. “We have
much more to
do,” she
conceded. “This
is a very
long-term
challenge.” To
her credit, and
to the credit of
Secretary of
State
Condoleezza Rice
and President
Bush, Hughes is
seeing to it
that the effort
she is
spearheading to
promote the U.S.
and our system
of government
during the
Global War on
Terror – to
“brand America,”
if you will –
receives the
funding and
resources it
requires.
In fact, in the
same report in
which it
criticizes the
State Department
for some of its
public diplomacy
efforts, the GAO
acknowledges
that the Bush
Administration
has increased
public diplomacy
resources to
countries with
significant
Muslim
populations in
recent years.
“Comparing data
from fiscal
years 2004 and
2006,” the GAO
found, “regional
bureau budgets
for overseas
operations
increased by 21
percent in
total, with the
largest
percentage going
to the South
Asia (39
percent), East
Asia and the
Pacific (28
percent), and
Near East (25
percent)
regions, each of
which includes
countries with
large Muslim
populations.”
At the same
time, the
Administration
has established
a number of new
and innovative
programs and
initiatives
intended to help
the U.S. better
communicate and
interact with
key audiences in
the Muslim
community and
elsewhere around
the world. These
initiatives
include a rapid
response office
within the State
Department that
will monitor
international
media, watching
for news stories
that portray the
U.S. in an
inaccurate light
and issuing
responses on an
as needed and
real time basis
to set the
record
straight.
The Department
has also
established the
Edward R. Murrow
program,
launched in
conjunction with
the Aspen
Institute and
six American
universities,
that will bring
over 100
international
media
professionals to
spend time at
leading
journalism
schools in the
U.S. The goal
of this program
is to encourage
good
journalistic
practices around
the world, and
give journalists
around the world
a better
understanding of
our country. To
encourage
women’s
entrepreneurship
around the
world, the
Department has
also established
a women’s
business
exchange in
conjunction with
Fortune
Magazine.
Assisting Hughes
in overseeing
these
initiatives and
programs is Dina
Habib Powell,
the Assistant
Secretary of
State for
Educational and
Cultural
Affairs. Powell
was born in
Egypt and is
fluent in
Arabic. In the
words of
Condoleezza
Rice, she
represents the
embodiment of
what it means to
be an American
and to be part
of a multiethnic
democracy.”
Increasingly,
she is also
joining
Secretary Rice
and
Undersecretary
Hughes in
serving as a
public face and
voice of U.S.
public diplomacy
efforts in the
Middle East.
Their challenge
is a great one.
And, in the end,
it will take
more than
television
appearances and
talking points
to win the
hearts and minds
of those whose
only feeling
toward the
United States is
one of hate. It
will take
actions, as well
– actions by
diplomats,
actions by
soldiers,
actions by every
American.
For we all have
a stake in the
war we are
fighting, and we
all have a role
to play in
spreading the
principles of
freedom and
democracy –
principles that,
in the long run,
will not only
help change the
conditions that
promote
extremism and
terror, but
principles that,
for the past 230
years, have
helped make
America great.
RF
Louis M.
Zickar is
the Editor
of the Ripon
Forum.
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