[bobman0330]

Sheesh, no wonder the government can't get anything done right. I skimmed that entire monstrosity of a report, and I think it's pretty stupid. Leaving aside the stylistic and grammatical crimes committed therein, I didn't see too much utility to the recommendations. One of the points you quoted, and one that I think is of utmost importance, is that people are opposed to the US because they're opposed to things we do. They're opposed to supporting Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, or Israel. They're opposed to the invasion of Afghanistan. And not just a little opposed, violently, strap-myself-in-a-car-filled-with-explosives opposed. As the report wisely notes, packaging and "strategic communication" are not going to convince these people that it's alright. But how do you defeat al Qaeda without invading Afghanistan, or working closely with objectionable types in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan? There's the dilemma I think the report overlooks. You can win the moderate Islamists over by playing nice, but what about the diehards? Eliminating them (or at least their capacity to attack us) requires military action and credibility-destroying collaboration with despots and there go the moderates.

Solution? Not sure there is one. Bush's vision (fair to say now that it's more or less dead) of a democratic transformation of the Islamic world was a nice stab at the problem. Another alternative, which M likes (if I recall correctly), is to drop the charade and admit that we are indeed at war with most of Islam and kick some major ass. I'm not sure I've really seen much of an effort from the left to put forth a solution to this problem. If there's one that I've missed, I'd love to hear it.