It would seem that if we are doing the right thing, then we wouldn't have to work so hard to win the hearts and minds of the Arabs and Muslims......as well as spend so much money.
Oh, pish. They're so brainwashed by their leaders, it's gonna take decades to change it, no matter what we do.
Z, I disagree. I think they hate their leaders as much or more than they hate the American gov't. I also think the educated in those countries know to some degree the difference between successful governance and flatulence. Its possible you are not giving them enough credit.
If OBL were not such an extremist, religious ideologue, he might have been useful in getting the ME nations to make the transition to democratic gov'ts. Unfortunately, the OBL types either become extremist in their views, or they get co-opted by the power and money to be had in those countries.
While I don't think we always do the right thing, I don't think that their hatred for us is necessarily because of what we've done.
Of course, some of the things we do don't make it any easier.
I think there is a lot we've done that isn't well known in the US. Until this thread and my recent course, I had no idea the degree to which we had manipulated ME affairs to our advantage.........esp. in the '70s and '80s. We have helped keep in place gov'ts that have tortured and killed their people; gov'ts that drained the economies of these countries dry.
To what extent the people know, I am unclear. But I do know that any knowledgeable person can have a field day maligning our reputation in this part of the world.
Like I said in that other post, we have been of two minds on how to operate in the world. On one hand, we extol the ideal of democracy and equality for all, and then on the other hand, we support and aid gov'ts whose premise couldn't be further from that ideal.
Bottomline: I think any media propaganda from us will be met with skepticism. Honorable deeds will benefit us much greater IMO.
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