The United States should launch a major covert information campaign to promote the nation's image in the Middle East and sow division among radical Muslim groups, according to a West Point critique of U.S. terrorism policy.
The strategy, amounting to a secret campaign for hearts and minds, could involve paying for favorable publications and schools that promote moderate Islamic philosophies.
The report also proposes using Muslim allies, or at least groups hostile to the more militant Islamic movements, to exploit ideological rifts within terrorist groups.
Through it all, however, "it is essential that the U.S. hand not be seen," said the report by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. military academy.
The authors of the unpublished report, civilian scholars Jarret Brachman and William McCants, confirmed the authenticity of the report obtained by USA TODAY. Though not an official U.S. military document, it has circulated widely among U.S. intelligence officials and officers on the Pentagon's Joint Staff. The authors regularly brief Pentagon officials on terrorism issues.
The report, completed Monday, says the United States should rely on "proxies" for military action in the Middle East, if force is necessary.
"Direct engagement with the United States has been good for the jihadi movement," the authors argue, because it reinforces the perception in the Mideast of the United States as an anti-Islamic crusader.
"The United States should avoid direct, large-scale military action in the Middle East."
Such action, the report says, "rallies the locals behind the movement, drains the United States of resources and puts pressure" on allied regimes.
Titled "Stealing al-Qaeda's Playbook," the report is based on a detailed study of jihadist writings and communications and is meant to help better understand the enemy, Brachman said in an interview.
They really expect this to work? A covert information campaign? Excuse me--you lost the chance to develop a working covert information campaign the moment the Bush administration invaded Iraq! You've lost that chance the moment that U.S. forces became embroiled in a low-tech insurgency. Right now, the Middle East has turned against the United States--heck the entire world has turned against the United States as a result of President Bush's "go-it-alone-cowboy-strategy." Playing a covert information game at the same time you're fast working to become an imperial superpower is not going to win you any more friends. In fact, you're just gaining more enemies over time.
There is a way to salvage this fiasco over the long term. First, get out of Iraq! Clear and simple--no long term bases, or nothing. Second, reduce the U.S. profile in the Middle East, or at least give the appearance of reducing your profile. Don't try to overthrow the Hamas government of the Palestinian Authority. Don't force a military showdown against Iran over nukes, if anything, work behind the scenes to generate a world coalition that is against Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. Finally, if you're going to do any type of information campaign, you do it out in the open--similar to the Voice of America during the Cold War. If you're going to work on any type of informational campaign in the Middle East, you must keep in mind that such a campaign will take decades to achieve, through subtle workings, and careful negotiations--not these covert gimmicks.
But, I guess I'm wrong--considering that the Bush administration loves their secrecy.
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