(Weekly Standard) Robert Satloff - The State Department recently announced the formation of a new committee to repair its woeful "public diplomacy" toward Arabs and Muslims, headed by former diplomat Edward Djerejian, head of State's Near East bureau under then-secretary James Baker. Instead of investing money and effort to help millions of secular, liberal Muslims who fear the spread of Wahhabi radicalism, we spend our time searching under every rock for elusive "moderate Islamists." The U.S. government also spends tax dollars to subsidize study visits to the U.S. by radical Islamist journalists, to send outspoken critics of U.S. policy on speaking tours abroad, and to teach anti-American Islamist parliamentarians how to criticize pro-Western governments more effectively. Robert Satloff is director of policy and strategic planning at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
2003-08-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive