Karen of Arabia

27 December 2005 |permalink | email article

One sympathizes with Karen P. Hughes, a W. political mom, long time confidante and communications adviser who is now undersecretary of state for public diplomacy. Her job is to improve the tattered image of the United States and expand support for its policies abroad ñ not only in Europe and Asia but also notably in the Arab world.

It has proven to be a daunting PR task as was evident from her first Middle East trip in September, where she introduced herself as a ìmomî and was confronted by angry women who criticized support for the war in Iraq and American support for Israel. It was a reminder, as the New York Times pointed out Monday, that Hughesís mission is ìan uphill battle.î

Hughes was a member of the secret White House Iraq Group which plotted propaganda for a buildup to the war seven months before launch. She’s raced beyond the State Departmentís quickened rapid response to what news outlets are saying about U.S. policies in the Middle East. She now appears on Al Jazeera, the popular Arabic satellite TV station, linked by the Pentagon to Islamic extremists, in an unapologetic response to anti-American rhetoric.

The State Department has doubled the number of its interview in Arabic to about 100 this year. But Hughes now has a bigger communications challenge: to ensure that an orderly exit of U.S. troops from Iraq requires a language component to complement a viable Iraqi security force.

James Fallows writes in the December issue of the Atlantic Monthly the Iraqis arenít even close, and the White House has never taken the problem urgently. (See 12/1 post, ëFatal Exit Flaw: No Iraq Army.í He blames much of the problem on the inability of the military to solve its major language problems, citing a credible Marine source as saying U.S. forces and trainers should have about 22,000 interpreters instead of just one or two per company.

For Hughes to preach about democracy and womenís rights in Egypt, even though Hosni Mubarak, a close U.S. ally, ignores them in practice is troubling enough. But the Pentagonís inexcusable planning failure to provide enough Arabic speakers in the military to help expedite a withdrawal from Iraq is unpardonable.

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