THE TELEGRAPH: So the US State Department is seeking to wean impressionable young Muslims off terrorism by introducing pro-American blog posts. It's not the worst idea to come out of the current administration (it's up against some pretty stiff competition after all), but one can't help picking up the whiff of desperation.
The problem is that most young people in the Islamic world probably have a good idea that they'd be much better off if their governments did what the Americans want them to.
George W Bush is right about one thing: people everywhere long to be free, to be able to conduct their business without the clerics and secret police invigilating quite so closely. But his appeal to the aspiring spirit can only work if it's in keeping with America's actions. The source of much of the loathing of the US is that it speaks of liberty while propping up the likes of the Saudis, Musharraf and Mubarak. I didn't see the State Department complaining too much when a nineteen year old girl was given a prison sentence and 200 lashes for her role in her own gang-rape.
The Washington Post piece also mentions that the word 'Islamofascism' will not feature in these blog posts, as Muslims tend to interpret it to mean that their entire religion is fascist. That's not what the term means of course, but when almost every political and religious expression of Islam seems to exhibit sectarian and authoritarian tendencies it's an easy mistake to make. [Source: Blogging for Freedom]
Mark Alexander
