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NewsMine propoganda brainwash Viewing Item | Budget 4m year arab magazine Original Source Link: (May no longer be active) http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/news/opinion/6526077.htmhttp://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/news/opinion/6526077.htm
Posted on Thu, Aug. 14, 2003 State Department offers good tool against terror
A new magazine aimed at young Arabs has the right goal: help them understand American values. It's one more effort by the United States government to reach people who have been a prime recruiting pool for terrorist groups.
By itself, the State Department's nonpolitical magazine won't change the world. But it can provide insight into American culture and principles. Its goals are similar to those of American-financed Radio Sawa, also aimed at the Arab world.
The State Department has budgeted about $4 million a year to publish and distribute the magazine, called “Hi,” throughout the Mideast. The first issue last month carried stories about Arab students attending American colleges and an Arab-American actor, Tony Shalhoub.
Even Arab scholars recognize that a pall has fallen over the Arab world in recent decades. None of the 22 nations in the Arab League has a freely elected government. Poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and poor health plague much of the region.
That makes people vulnerable to simplistic answers offered by radicals who distort Islam and declare terrorism to be a legitimate tool of political change.
Most Arab media are controlled by oppressive governments that allow or encourage them to repeat lies and ridiculous conspiracy theories in which the United States is always to blame. This feeds unrest.
In response, our government should be doing all it can to promote freedom of expression, human rights and other values that define American culture.
The State Department has elected not to use the magazine to cover political stories but to focus on people and culture.
The magazine can help explain some of the American electorate's cultural background, but it won't explain or justify government policies. So the American government also must find ways to explain those policies more clearly to Arabs.
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