“The United States welcomes all religions and rewards immigrants
who embrace its democratic values with opportunities and freedom beyond
their dreams.” This is the message the U.S. State Department
wants “civilian ambassadors,” preferably Muslims, carry
to Europe, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the South Pacific.
Presently, four American Muslims are trying to spread their assigned
message on an eight-day tour to three European countries.
The program is the brain child of Karen Hughes, the undersecretary
of state for public diplomacy. In her opinion, many foreigners believe
that Muslims in the U.S. are persecuted and that American Muslims are
best qualified to refute such allegations.
If Ms. Hughes had researched media commentaries and public opinion
abroad since the invasion of Iraq, she would have noticed that the
problems of American Muslims are one of the least mentioned issues.
It is true that immediately after the terrorist attacks on New York
and Washington D.C., Attorney John Ashcroft ordered the rounding up
and imprisonment, without charges, of hundreds of Muslims. Many more
American Muslims, however, did not suffer disadvantages at all and
remain economically and political largely integrated into American
society. It is from this segment that Ms. Hughes chose her “civilian
ambassadors.”
The really tough questions asked abroad about recent American conduct and American
policies toward Muslims and Arabs remain essentially unanswered. How was it possible
that torture could occur at Abu Ghraib prison? Who was ultimately responsible
for those misdeeds? Why is it necessary to hold foreign nationals at the Guantanamo
prison indefinitely without due process of law? Given the high standards Americans
like to set for themselves, it is certainly an unenviable task for Ms. Hughes
and her boss, Secretary Rice, to answer questions about alleged violations of
international law to the satisfaction of America’s critics.
While it can validly be argued that the mistreatment of prisoners has never been
officially condoned by any U.S. government, it is far more difficult for Americans
to explain to foreigners key elements of the Bush administration’s foreign
policy. Why do we continue to support the oppressive 39-year old Israeli occupation
of the Palestinian territories?
That is usually one of the first political questions Arabs tend to raise with
Americans. The powerful U.S. government imposes its will upon every other country
in the Middle East, why is it so unwilling to make the government of Israel end
the chaos and the agony in Gaza and the West Bank?
Other foreign policy questions are just as difficult to answer. Does the U.S.
intend to maintain its control over the Muslim nations between the Indian Ocean
and the Mediterranean Sea indefinitely? Do Americans seriously think they can
end the violent terrorist resistance and the non-violent hostility to America’s
uninvited presence in the region with military means alone?
Considering the gravity of those questions, Ms. Hughes’ hope to change
the foreign disapproval of American policies in the Middle East is naïve
at best. Mr. Bush explained why he wanted her, rather than an experienced career
diplomat, as undersecretary of state for public diplomacy: “Karen
has got good instincts. She can spot a phony a mile away. Her voice is one of
reason and honesty. Plus, Karen is someone who knows that it’s so important
to be proactive as opposed to defensive.”
Yet, according to The Washington Post, Karen herself had already doubts about
her qualifications when she served Mr. Bush in Texas: “I know I don’t
know a lot,” she conceded but she believes she knows Mr. Bush. “I
know where he stands,” she explained. “I know the governor. I know
his principles, and I try to be a pretty effective communicator of what he believes.
But I don’t make any pretense that I know how to do this nationally.”
Ironically, now she serves the President internationally, charged with the heavy
responsibility for all of the State Department’s educational and cultural
affairs as well as all international information programs.