An endless stream of commentators have spent the last few years pointing out that the Bush administration's war on terror, not to mention its entirely unrelated war on Iraq, are enormous failures that have alienated Muslims and strengthened al-Qaida. Now the Pentagon is saying it too. The Defense Science Board Task Force on Strategic Communication, a Pentagon task force on the \struggle for hearts and minds"" of the Muslim world in the global war on terrorism, has reported, ""American efforts have not only failed, they may also have achieved the opposite of what they intended.""
This report was completed in September and was quietly released on the Pentagon Web site the day before Thanksgiving. It has received very little media attention, and sadly even less attention in the White House. A leak from the board claims in the three months since the report was delivered, the administration has not responded at all. This shouldn't be surprising, of course, as Bush has spent his entire presidency ignoring the best advice from our top military minds when they don't tell him what he wants to hear.
The report is quite clear on how we're losing the war on terror. It notes that ""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 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 [and others].""
Further, Muslims see our invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as leading not to democracy, but to chaos and suffering. Since ""there is no yearning-to-be-liberated-by-the-U.S. groundswell among Muslim societies-except to be liberated perhaps from what they see as apostate tyrannies that the U.S. so determinedly promotes and defends,"" our invasions appear ""motivated by ulterior motives, and deliberately controlled in order to best serve American national interests at the expense of truly Muslim self-determination."" Consequently, most Arabs perceive us as ""arrogant, hypocritical and self-indulgent.""
The consequences of losing the battle for ""hearts and minds"" are extraordinary. This is no mere popularity contest. On the contrary, ""American actions have elevated the authority of the jihadi insurgents and tended to ratify their legitimacy among Muslims."" Terrorists portray themselves as defenders of a Muslim community ""invaded and under attack,"" leading to ""proliferation of terrorist groups.""
Put simply, Bush's poor judgment has transformed al-Qaida from a ""marginal network"" into a powerful global force, giving it a broad base of new support from across the Muslim world. That weakens our national security and puts us in danger. The invasion of Iraq and the conduct of the war on terror have been a recruiting bonanza for al-Qaida. Further, we have increased its popularity among moderate Muslims as negative public opinion of the U.S. continues to deepen. Coupled with our increasing isolation from our European allies, that can only lead to greater threat of terrorism against America.
The task force's proposed solution is to get some credibility in the Muslim world to more effectively propagandize. To do so they recommend we abandon a Cold War mentality that accepted ""authoritarian regimes as long as they were anti-communist."" We must overcome ""the perception of intimate U.S. support of tyrannies in the Muslim World,"" because it ""strongly undercuts our message, while strongly promoting that of the enemy."" What's the best way to do this? ""The U.S. urgently needs to think in terms of promoting actual positive change.""
I agree we should promote actual positive change-by not supporting pro-U.S. dictators, and by not blowing up civilians, hospitals and news media in Iraq. Ideally, we wouldn't have invaded Iraq in the first place. Though that ship has long since sailed, the point is still relevant. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz has said that ""our military expeditions to Afghanistan and Iraq are unlikely to be the last such excursion in the global war on terrorism.""
There are good reasons to believe the thorough report. It was prepared not by political extremists, but by military specialists with no political axe to grind. Their only goal is to enable the president to better defend America, a goal we all share. Not only would promoting positive change give Bush some of his beloved ""political capital"" in his favorite part of the world-the oil-rich part-but it would be the right thing to do, too. But sadly, he'll probably do the same thing he did when the CIA told him there were no WMDs in Iraq. That is, whatever he wants, and consequences be damned.
