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Hearts, Minds, and Dollars
MIT
04/20/05 at 03:35:56
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/050425/25roots.htm
interesting, but not surprising  
jannah
04/20/05 at 14:35:53
wlm,

This is an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT article that we all need to read.

QUESTIONS to think about: These are just the things we know about. What else is the US covertly doing to "change the very face of Islam". And let's not fool ourselves into thinking that all they are doing is supporting "moderate Islam".
Secondly, the article tries to make out that these things are a failure and haven't served their purpose, but how much damage have these things really done to Islam and Muslims?


COMMENTS: We have always known this, but now it is pretty explicit what is going on. The lesson in this is that we should definitely be careful and THINK when things happen instead of getting all emotional and stupid. Like when certain dumb videos come out. Or like when a certain unknown author all of a sudden has a 25 city tour or when certain foundations/projects are given more money than others. We should be smarter in this "war of hearts and minds" as they say.

I'm all for support of moderate Islamic institutions and rooting out terrorism. But we should never allow outsiders to influence and control us with their money and propoganda.


"administration officials have peddled fake video news reports and paid columnists to boost policies here at home."

I'll say it again... one day all those beheading videos and that dumb jihad video out of the UK will come to light as propoganda.

"The military's psyop units ran airborne TV and radio stations, showered millions of leaflets on countries, and distributed everything from comic books to giant kites in order to sway minds."

"Beers poured what funds she had into a pilot project to open doors overseas--TV clips showcasing the lives of Muslim Americans. While criticized in the press, the spots actually played well with Muslims abroad, studies showed."

"Among the ideas: using music, comics, poetry, and the Internet to get across America's views to the Arab world."

"The administration kicked off major new initiatives in foreign broadcasting--Radio Sawa, a pop music-news station in 2002, and Alhurra, a satellite-TV news network in 2004, both aimed at Arab audiences. The CIA's strategic influence unit and the Pentagon's psyop group also won major funding increases."

""The Cold War was easy," says a knowledgeable official. "It was a struggle against a godless political ideology. But this has theological elements. It goes to the core of American belief that we don't mess with freedom of religion. Do we have any authority to influence this debate?" The answer, for now, appears to be yes. "You do it quietly," says Zeyno"


"In crafting their strategy, U.S. officials are taking pages from the Cold War playbook of divide and conquer."

"One solution being pushed: offering backdoor U.S. support to reformers tied to Sufism, a tolerant branch of Islam "

""If you found out that Mullah Omar is on one street corner doing this, you set up Mullah Bradley on the other street corner to counter it," explains one recently retired official. In more-serious cases, he says, recruiters would be captured and "interrogated.""

"Intelligence operatives have set up bogus jihad websites and targeted the Arab news media, but they are being exceedingly cautious."

"Radio Sawa, which features pop music interspersed with frequent newscasts, is now one of the most popular stations in the Middle East. Estimates differ, but an ACNielsen survey last year found that Alhurra, after just six months on the air, was reaching between 20 percent and 33 percent of viewers with satellite dishes in a half-dozen key Arab nations. There are new initiatives to bring Alhurra to Arab speakers in Europe, expand Persian broadcasts into Iran, and increase programming in other key languages."


...Read the rest...


04/24/05 at 01:21:36
jannah


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