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 t
is rare that one finds in Washington, DC, a strongly principled
conservative who also happens to have years of experience in an
agency that has been placed in his care. The appointment of Robert
R. Reilly as director of the Voice of America is especially promising
for that reason. Having served in the old U.S. Information Agency
and as a program host for VOA/NET TV for the past decade, Reilly
no doubt understands the role of VOA and the importance of its public-diplomacy
mission. As a principled conservative, moreover, Reilly may be more
willing than the average appointee to shake things up. At least
we can hope.
If he has not
done so already, Reilly ought to read Holly Cowan Shulman's 1991
book, The
Voice of America: Propaganda and Democracy, 1941-1945, and
then he ought to make his top aides read it. Shulman's history is
a bracing reminder of VOA's origins in the last great struggle against
evil — World War II — when it was managed by the Office
of War Information. Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
were likewise born of the Cold War. Just as we trace the true meaning
of our Constitution to the deliberations of the Founding Fathers,
the true mission of any organization is found in its origins. VOA
was an instrument of war then — Reilly should tell his civilian
staff — and VOA is again an instrument of war.
While this
war may be more difficult for conventional war planning, Reilly
could explain that it actually offers a greater opportunity than
did World War II for the persuasive power of broadcasting. That
is because civilians throughout the Muslim world can either help
or hinder U.S. efforts to track down and confront our enemies in
ways that were not as possible for civilians in Germany and Japan,
where traditional fronts and armies kept the civilian populations
at bay. We must persuade Muslims that our fight is not against Islam,
Afghanistan, or the Arab peoples, but against a small number of
people who personally support or engage in terrorism.
Second, as
the success of RFE/RL proves, surrogate broadcasting — where
a radio station serves as the surrogate domestic news service for
the country or region to which it broadcasts — is much more
effective against adversaries than "official" U.S. broadcasting,
VOA's forte since 1945. As a result, and because the United States
is engaged in a new kind of warfare, Reilly should make some changes.
Just as generals
need to surrender men and materials to theater commanders for this
war, Reilly should surrender some of his conventional assets by
converting VOA's programming in Arabic and other Middle Eastern
languages into a "Voice of the Muslim World," a surrogate
service for the Islamic nations. I know, Bill Safire suggested "Radio
Free Afghanistan," but our fight is against militant, fundamentalist
Islam — not Afghanistan. When the fight shifts to Sudan or
Iraq, we'll still need a "Voice of the Muslim World" to
address the hearts and minds of innocent but wavering Muslims —
while U.S. and allied soldiers pursue the bad guys. And don't worry,
"Voice of the Muslim World" does not sound as clunky in
Arabic as it does in English.
To its credit,
VOA has twice expanded news broadcasts in Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Pashto,
and Urdu to the Middle East and South and Central Asia (including
Afghanistan) following September 11, but even with the additional
hours, VOA is broadcasting in Arabic only nine hours daily. Farsi
(for Iranian audiences) gets only 4.5 hours daily. This is war,
so 24/7 ought to be the rule, especially when U.S. soldiers are
making the ultimate sacrifice. Reilly should do whatever it takes
— and surely the bureaucracy will resist — but place these
language services at the disposal of the "Voice of the Muslim
World," and get them on the air around-the-clock.
Thirdly, to
make the "Voice of the Muslim World" both effective and
credible, VOA should establish a distinguished advisory panel to
help get the new surrogate service off the ground. Reilly should
seek out prominent Muslims who believe, as we do, that terrorism
by Muslim fundamentalists is a perversion of Islam, and not a product
of it; Muslims who might remind the world that, since the end of
the Cold War, American soldiers have twice gone to war — and
given their lives — in defense of Islam, to free Kuwaitis and
defend Balkan Muslims. For members of such an advisory board, I
would recommend the following individuals, for starters:
· Fouad
Ajami, the Majid Khadduri Professor and Director of Middle East
Studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns
Hopkins University. Not only is he a distinguished scholar, Dr.
Ajami is an effective public spokesman.
· Shaykh
Muhammad Hisham Kabbani, chairman of the Islamic Supreme Council
and a scholar of Islamic law. Born in Lebanon, he studied the Islamic
shariah at Azhar University in Damascus, Syria. He now lives in
the United States.
· Ravan
Farhadi, the official Afghan representative to the U.N., who represents
the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. Born in Kabul, Farhadi earned
his spurs by spending 20 months in prison for his antigovernment
activities, prior to the Soviet invasion. He later taught Persian
literature at the Sorbonne.
· Ahmed
Chalabi, the Iraqi opposition leader.
Fourth, because
TV is an increasingly influential medium throughout the Middle East,
Reilly should persuade the Board for International Broadcasting,
which now supervises VOA, to provide bigger and better transmission
facilities for TV Badakhshan, the only broadcasting organization
still in existence in Afghanistan. A barebones operation in the
Northern Alliance-controlled city of Feyzabad, this TV station is
unlikely to be seen or heard by many in Afghanistan — which
outlawed TV in 1998 — but if Reilly can help to get its anti-Taliban
broadcasts into homes in Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the West Bank,
we will make our diplomatic and military efforts much easier.
"VOA began in response to the need of peoples in closed and
war-torn societies for 'a consistently reliable and authoritative
source of news.'" That's what VOA's own website says. Closed
and war-torn certainly describes Afghanistan and the other states
that sponsor terrorism and harbor its agents. Even more important,
the first VOA broadcast originated on February 24, 1942, just 79
days after the United States entered World War Two. The announcer,
William Harlan Hale, opened the first broadcast by speaking in German.
That fact is significant.
Get VOA speaking
Arabic, Dari, Farsi, Pashto, and Urdu, around the clock, to those
Muslims throughout the world who will listen to reason. Offer them
something more interesting than the hatred spewed by Shariat Radio,
the voice of the Taliban. As the White House has repeatedly reminded
us, this is a war that will be fought on many fronts, so let's quickly
establish a front for truth in the living rooms, universities, shops,
and workplaces of Muslims throughout the world.
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