To the Arab Streets
Calling evil by its name, in Arabic.

By Kevin J. McNamara, a former journalist and congressional aide, McNamara is an adjunct scholar of the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
October 23, 2001 12:25 p.m.

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.