Hoping to communicate more effectively
Of course, that’s just what the Bush Administration tried to do — and ended up taking the advice of Muslim Brotherhood operatives, and enabling jihadists to gain access to high levels of government. Will this initiative work out better as guided by Obama and Hillary? I doubt it.
More on this story. “Clinton Vows to Reach Out to Islamic World,” by Glenn Kessler for the Washington Post, February 17 (thanks to all who sent this in):
TOKYO, Feb. 17 — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Tuesday the Obama administration will make “a concerted effort” to restore the image of the United States in the Islamic world and will seek to “enlist the help of Muslims around the world against the extremists.”
Clinton, who on Wednesday will travel to Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim country, told students at Tokyo University that “this is one of the central security challenges we face — as to how to better communicate in a way that gets through the rhetoric and through the demagogy and is heard by people who can make judgments about what we stand for and who we truly are.”
Clinton’s remarks came in response to a question about the “prejudice” in the United States against Muslims because of terrorism, a term she rejected forcefully, pointing to the history of Christians. “I am a Christian,” she said. “Through the centuries we have had many people who have done terrible things in the name of Christianity. They have perverted the religion.” […]