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09/20/2005: Axis of Evil's Failing Messages...
Another regions where our own “Axis of Evil” (Child-in-Chief, Dick-Yourself and Blooming Shit-Head) Disnesque Photo-Op messages of “Spreading Freedom” are also falling on deaf ears and eyes:
Meehan's message on extremism by Scot Lehigh (Boston Globe):“Representative Martin Meehan recently returned from a 10-day fact-finding trip to the Middle East -- and the message he brings back is sobering.
Meehan, who met with political and government leaders from Egypt, Morocco, Lebanon, and Israel as well as US officials there, says his take-away impression is that the United States needs to do much more to stop the spread of radical Islam.
''We are not rising to meet the long-term challenges we face in the region," Meehan says. ''We need an approach that uses every tool we have. The military is part of it, but it also has to be political, diplomatic, economic, and educational."
This is hardly the first venture into foreign policy for Meehan, the ranking Democrat on the House subcommittee on terrorism, unconventional threats, and capabilities.
…
''We talk a good talk about freedom, but we really aren't doing what's necessary to make it work," he says. ''We have the rhetoric, but not the resources."
The United States, which has so far spent $200 billion in Iraq, each year devotes only $500 million to diplomacy and only $25 million to outreach programs in the Middle East, the congressman says. In his proposal, Meehan underscores the finding of an April report by the Government Accountability Office that the US government ''does not yet have a public diplomacy communications strategy."
''Our enemies seek to exploit ideas that have unfortunately gained in resonance: suspicion of the West, fear of modernity, hatred of the United States, and persistent anti-Semitism," he writes.
…
''In the war on terror, we can't afford another failure by doing too little in the struggle against violent extremism," he concludes. ''This is a critical moment in history, and it demands a comprehensive strategy to deal with the threat of radical Islam."
Karen on 09.20.05 @ 07:52 AM CST
