The United States regards the Muslim world as another version of the
Soviet Union and therefore treats Muslims as a monolith, according to a report by a Pentagon advisory board.
"Today we reflexively compare Muslim 'masses' to those oppressed under
Soviet rule," the report said. "This is a strategic mistake."
The 102-page report by the Defense Science Board reviewed U.S.
information policy toward the Arab and Muslim world as part of an effort to
stem the
tide of anti-Americanism, Middle East Newsline reported.
The board concluded that Washington has failed to
adequately explain its diplomatic and military policy to Muslims around the
world.
"America's negative image in world opinion and diminished ability to
persuade are consequences of factors other than the failure to implement
communications strategies," the report said. "Succeeding in this struggle
requires leadership from the president on down."
The report recommended an overhaul in U.S. information policy. This
included the establishment of what the report termed a "strategic
communication structure" within the National Security Council.
"Mistakes dismay our friends and provide enemies with unintentional
assistance," the report said. "Strategic communication is not the problem,
but it is a problem."
The United States was urged to seek to "convert a broad movement
within Islamic civilization to accept the value structure of Western
Modernity – an agenda hidden within the official rubric of a 'war
on terrorism.'"
Muslims in dictatorial regimes do not seek freedom as those in countries
that had been dominated by the Soviet Union after World War II. The board
said that unlike those who lived in East Bloc states, Muslims do not see the
United States as their liberator.
"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," the
Pentagon board said in a report.
