Originally Posted by stevo

Sorry, but you are 100% wrong. We aren't trying to win the battle, we're fighting to win a war.

I admit I haven't been to the middle east, so this isn't first hand knowledge. But I've talked to several freedom loving arab-americans and they all say the same thing.

The anti-US propaganda fed to the middle-eastern populace comes from the dictators of these countries. From the streets of Cairo to Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Iran, name the place, They have centrally controlled media who has been the mouthpiece of the dictators for years. The people in these countries have been indoctrinated from the youngest age that america is evil and the US is the devil . They have been taught this from an early age because the dictators know what threatens their hold on power, and that is American ideals of justice and liberty for all. If the people in these countries were fed the honest truth since their birth we would have seen democratic revolutions take place decades ago. These people hate us because of who we are, not because of anything we do.

The terrorists and dictators alike will, of course, use every bit of information they can to further their agenda. Anything bad that comes from the press or out of the war they will spin to their advantage. But they hated us long before this war and being nice to them isn't going to change a thing.

The only thing this culture responds to is strength and force. America needs to be seen as strong in its commitment and will. It needs to be seen as a country that doesn't bend to the will of others. If we are seen as doing whatever it takes to get people to like us, pulling out of the middle east or even just closing guantanamo because of all the negative press, we will be seen as a country of ass-kissers. The middle east will gain no respect for us out of such actions, but will interpret those actions as a sign of weakness.

We need to be forceful. We need to stay the course in iraq. By turning iraq into a succesful and powerful democracy in the middle east with a free market and a free press iraq will be a beacon to the rest of the middle east. An actual example to counter the decades of anti-US propaganda and illustrate what the united states stands for. We need to give the people in the middle east a reason not to turn to terrorism and extremism and that is by spreading the freedoms we enjoy (and take for granted) to all, especially those who hate us.

And at some point, with some people, the only way to do that is with unbridled, blunt force.