U.S. lacks direction, cohesion in war of ideas

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The Bush administration's effort to wage a war of ideas against terrorism is hampered by divisions among agencies and by a lack of focus on winning Muslim support.

"On the battle of ideas, we have unilaterally disarmed," said Marc Ginsberg, a former ambassador to Morocco. "We have abandoned the playing field to the [Islamist] radicals and we have failed to empower our allies in the region with the tools they need to confront the radicals by themselves."

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said in an interview last week with The Washington Times that the United States is not doing enough to counter extremist ideas, and polls have shown that public support for America has declined sharply in the Middle East since 2000.

"We are in a war of ideas, as well as a global war on terror," Mr. Rumsfeld said, noting that "ideas are important, and they need to be marshaled, and they need to be communicated in ways that are persuasive to the listeners."

"In many instances, we're not the best messengers," Mr. Rumsfeld said, adding that the Bush administration should consider setting up a "21st-century information agency."

In Iraq, the Pentagon has spent about $30 million on a ground-based television system known as the Iraq Media Network, but little on programming, or on satellite television, which is the province of anti-U.S. networks.

Arabs in large numbers are watching the Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite television network, to which Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda terrorist network have sent tapes and messages for broadcast. Another major satellite network is Tehran-based Al Alam, which U.S. officials view as anti-American.

"Most Muslims think the global war on terrorism is a war against Islam," said Mr. Ginsberg, adding that more should be done to get Arabic-speaking Americans on Middle East television and radio.

Several recent studies by the Congress and academic institutions have stated that the State Department, the lead agency for promoting American ideas, lacks direction for influencing foreign and especially Muslim publics in ways favorable to the United States.