SPEAKING FREELY Fighting a media war against al-Qaeda
By Chris Heffelfinger
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US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's speech at the Council on Foreign
Relations on February 17 resonated across the Middle East and the greater
Islamic world more than many
Americans realize. The speech and the potential policies to come out of it also
have great importance for the future of the United States' strategy to confront
al-Qaeda.
However, Rumsfeld said in his speech that the US has thus far lagged behind the
al-Qaeda network in one of the most important aspects of the "war on terrorism"
- the media war.
The US public has heard much about the battle for hearts and minds in the "war
on terror". Now they have learned that al-Qaeda is, in fact, winning that
battle. This is what many of us following the Internet jihad have known for a
long time.
This is because al-Qaeda and its affiliates have been more efficient at issuing
statements after important events, announcing and threatening new operations -
and thus, to some extent, dictating the tempo of the conflict - and,
ultimately, better at affecting public opinion in the Arab and Islamic worlds.
Ironically, Rumsfeld's recent statements themselves were distributed in the
online jihadist media as an admission of defeat in the battle for hearts and
minds. The Global Islamic Media Front - a loosely organized group that operates
through individuals working in various countries on behalf of al-Qaeda's cause
- issued a statement on February 19 on the Al-Ghorabaa jihadist forum from the
organization's "general leadership".
Rumsfeld's statement, announced to "Information Mujahideen in every place", in
effect declared that the man who sold the "war on terror" has now announced
that al-Qaeda has outpaced the Americans in the media war. The statement went
on to call for more individuals to take it upon themselves to distribute
materials shaming the enemy online - by video, photo, audio, statement, poetry
and whatever other means are at their disposal.
Such calls to action find reception among certain groups in the Islamic world.
One sees a plethora of forums competing in the jihadist online community -
which perhaps reflects a growing audience for them - as well as individual
ideologues competing to represent and contribute to the jihadi cause. Sadly,
this environment provides a medium for the young to express themselves at a
time when few other outlets exist for them in many Arab and Muslim countries.
The question is, given Rumsfeld's statements, what is the best way to remedy
this problem?
There has been some publicity given recently to projects at West Point, New
York's Combating Terrorism Center (at which I work as a contract researcher).
Two reports in particular - one on the recently declassified project HARMONY
and a paper suggesting the US should carefully consider the impact of their
presence in the Middle East - have demonstrated that some organs of the US
government are concerned with this issue.
At this stage, however, the US remains behind in the media war not because a
lack of desire to participate in it, but because of the lack of expertise on
the ideology and culture of jihadists that would allow the US government to
effectively counter the flood of jihadist materials being circulated around the
Internet.
Greater expertise on Islamic extremism - its origins, doctrines, and
differences with mainstream Islam - would not only benefit the intelligence
agencies, but also those that are engaged in the meager public diplomacy
campaign taking place in the Arab and Islamic world.
And as Rumsfeld's speech emphasized, this is a matter of public affairs; yet
the US is doing very little of it.
A revamped public-diplomacy campaign is not only a necessary way to short-term
victories against terrorism in terms of public opinion, it is the only way to
reach the next generation of Muslim youth who are now surfing the Internet and
forming their opinions about the West. Will the US be seen as a nation of
opportunity and pluralism, or one of oppression and violence dedicated to the
destruction of the "true" Islam? The answer will be a result of how vigorously
the US government engages the Arab and Islamic world in the coming years.
True, it is a long-term solution to invest more in education for Arabic
language and Islamic culture and re-establish the informational institutions
the US dismantled in the late 1990s. But, as the administration of President
George W Bush has said, this will be a long struggle.
Chris Heffelfinger is an independent researcher who works with the US
Department of Defense. He is also the editor of Unmasking Terror: A
Global Review of Terrorist Activities (Vol I and II, Jamestown Foundation).
(Copyright 2006 Chris Heffelfinger.)
Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have
their say.
Please click hereif you are interested in
contributing.
