The WP has a modest but telling story about the so-called “public diplomacy” initiatives of the US government. It seems the various public diplomacy efforts targeting the Muslim world are having a bit of trouble getting off the ground. (GAO report here). After all, despite the hoop-la a few weeks ago when Rice named Karen Hughes the new undersecretary of state for this function, there hasn’t been much action. In fact, Hughes reportedly won’t be ready to take the job for a few more months, citing pressing family duties.
Not taking away from any parent’s desire to put family first, Quillnews experience with supervisors in the work place is that you went where the boss said the job was required and now! When I was employed as an oil company soldier, assignments were given on a Friday and started on a Monday. If the assignment was in another city or country or continent, well, “you’d better get moving…” Families came trailing in time when able.
I expect this is how much most of the grown ups employed in the rest of the world – both in the public and the private sectors – view it. If Hughes can lolly-gag in Texas and let her new post wait, well, that’s a pretty important “public diplomacy” message: the US government cares very little about creating a manufactured image of its intentions.
I suspect this lack of speed by Hughes, Rice et al is not unintended. Bush 43 has been quite focused on the real-life aspects of the Global War on Terror (GWoT) since Sept 11, despite the demands of Media-ville that the US appear to be nice, get along, be kind and all the other nice things that polite people expect of a benevolent power like the US. Bush 43 risked his reelection on this point, betting the US public would respect the results of his actions, not highly-polished images or news account on the evening TV shows or in New York and DC newspapers of what was happening. What mattered were the facts on the ground, the realities – not what "messages" were manufactured and rearranged to appear in media!
In fact, in real-life it has been the ugly duty of the US to kill its enemies, one at a time in some cases, by the bunch at others. The American people know instinctively this is very dangerous and very costly work. It is also a solemn work. Putting a beneficient face on efforts to create death in war is a sacrilege. To hasten war’s end, it is the duty of the US to convince its enemies that they are next, maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week, maybe next year. But they will lose. It has been the duty of the US to convince hostile governments that their existence is at risk unless they submit to the will of the civilized world, and to do this requires that real things occur that have real consequences in life and death. It requires war. It is for this reason that the US has sacrificed its blood and treasure in Afghanistan and Iraq, and convinced Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and others (Syria? Libya?) to shape up or else. Others countries need to pay attention. (Are China, Iran, the EU listening?) This is the “message” of the US, public diplomacy, private diplomacy or any diplomacy. The American people are at war.
Take a look-see at the kind of enemy we face at home and abroad and the support this enemy continues to have at home and abroad. (LGF, LGF2, LGF3, LGF4, LGF5, LGF6, Jihad Watch, FPM, CAMERA, Daniel Pipes). Some previous observations here: Quillnews, QN2, QN3, QN4, QN5. There are many good Muslims seeking help in fighting the jihadists in their midst, and many high-minded do-gooders are meeting to build the trust and dialogue that civilized interactions between Muslims and others require. (Hitchens) These initiatives will go on, whether Karen Hughes shows up for work or not. (Though when she does show up, Hughes no doubt will knock heads and get the coordination underway to focus efforts, save money and improve PR at the margins).
Quillnews observation: It is no surprise that the focus of the Bush 43 administration has been on the making of war, not on the presentation of an argument to fair minded witnesses merely to create images. A recent GAO report confirms this. Many good, hard working people in government work to clearly explain various government actions. But reliance on any “national communications strategy” as implied in the GAO report, or dreaming of a primary role for "public diplomacy" is nonsense. The American people in their interactions with family, friends, colleagues, customers, employees and in the countless interactions of human kind free in the world both at home and abroad are all the “message” the world needs. The facts of the matter about the US and its behavior are what is required; Americans will fight for what is right every time. What the Islamist enemies of the US will get is death.
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