Freak Flag Fly

The withdrawal of Contrak International Inc. from its $325 million reconstruction contract reminds us of Bush's self-defeating nature. The dickwad obviously thought that if he doled out contracts only to firms from the willing coalition, it would be some kind of "lesson" to the rest of the world, i.e. Fluck you for not supporting the invasion.

In the red states of Dumbfluckistan, this logic seems perfectly reasonable.

But the problem with this approach, as with our refusal to state clearly that the U.S. desires no permanent military bases in Iraq, is that it manages to achieve the opposite of what it wants. When you say fluck you, people tend to reply in kind.

As a recent DOD report notes, it is precisely this type of action that is viewed in the Muslim and Arab world as self-serving and hypocritical:

American direct intervention in the Muslim World has paradoxically elevated the stature of and support for radical Islamists, while diminishing support for the United States to single-digits in some Arab societies.
• Muslims do not “hate our freedom,” but rather, they hate our policies. The
overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights, and the longstanding, even increasing support for what Muslims collectively see as tyrannies, most notably Egypt, Saudi
Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, and the Gulf states.
• Thus when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic
societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy. Moreover, saying that “freedom is the future of the Middle East” is seen as patronizing, suggesting that
Arabs are like the enslaved peoples of the old Communist World — but Muslims do
not feel this way: they feel oppressed, but not enslaved.
• Furthermore, in the eyes of Muslims, American occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has not led to democracy there, but only more chaos and suffering. U.S. actions
appear in contrast to be motivated by ulterior motives, and deliberately controlled in order to best serve American national interests at the expense of truly Muslim selfdetermination.
• Therefore, the dramatic narrative since 9/11 has essentially borne out the entire radical Islamist bill of particulars. American actions and the flow of events have
elevated the authority of the Jihadi insurgents and tended to ratify their legitimacy among Muslims. Fighting groups portray themselves as the true defenders of an
Ummah (the entire Muslim community) invaded and under attack — to broad public support.
• What was a marginal network is now an Ummah-wide movement of fighting groups. Not only has there been a proliferation of “terrorist” groups: the unifying context of a shared cause creates a sense of affiliation across the many cultural and sectarian boundaries that divide Islam.

Thus the critical problem in American public diplomacy directed toward the Muslim World is not one of “dissemination of information,” or even one of crafting and
delivering the “right” message. Rather, it is a fundamental problem of credibility. Simply,there is none...

Democrats need to move beyond bromides about "arrogance" and get on board with the Department of Defense on this one. It is not just U.S. imperialism, but its TRANSPARENCY that is counterproductive to our efforts against real threats. Progressive officials and pundits need to point out the specific consequences Bushian arrogance. Arabs and Muslims have become more radicalized, while the likelihood of Iran or North Korea or Pakistan passing off nuclear weapons to terrorists "without leaving any fingerprints" has increased. Instead of Kerry's mealy-mouthed "we're not as safe as we should be" and "I will fight a more effective war on terrorism," Dems should attach these words to the end of every criticism of our current foreign policy: "...and we are LESS SAFE as a result."