Policymakers and opinionmakers in Washington and the Middle East would do well to pay careful attention to today's article in the New York Times about Egyptians and other Arabs not believing claims by the United States that Osama bin Laden was responsible for the attacks of September 11. Some reasoning goes like this:
– A small group of Arabs lack the capability for such a massive attack against America.
– Arabs did not benefit from 9/11, but Israel did, because it focused the U.S. on fighting the Muslim World.
– The U.S. linked Saddam Hussein to 9/11 in order to invade Iraq. Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11. So, 9/11 was a set-up, likely planned by the U.S. government.
The New York Times article quotes shop owners, but while at the Pentagon I heard at least one senior-ranking military official from the Gulf offer these rumors as truth. Very disturbing.
Unfortunately, the United States government has lost a great deal of credibility in the Middle East since invading Iraq. When U.S. official speak about democracy, most Arabs tend to understand that word as a pseudonym for imperialism. No one believes that the U.S. invaded Iraq to bring that country democracy. I try to convince Egyptians that George Bush is as frighteningly honest as he sounds, and is a true believer that he's doing the right thing, but Egyptians think President Bush is a lot smarter than that, and don't believe me. A new Administration will need to first and foremost work on restoring America's credibility. It can start by dispensing with the patronizing rhetoric of what Midlde Eastern societies “need to do to change,” and instead talk about how the United States will treat the region with the respect it deserves. The first move should be a high profile listening tour by a senior U.S. official – either the new Secretary of State (not the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, who has no control over U.S. policies in the region), or a high profile Middle East Envoy (Bill Clinton?). That would be some real public diplomacy.
In the Middle East, opinionmakers should consider working harder to correct the misinformation that encourages persistent misperceptions about the United States.
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