Another Bad Idea?

I'm surprised there's been no talk about this report in Time:

The U.S. Special Operations Command, which Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has given the lead role in the global war on terrorism, doesn't just have gun-toting commandos out launching attacks. For the past six months, it has been dispatching two- to four-person teams of psychological warriors to the Pentagon's overseas commands, armed with plans for pro-U.S. advertising campaigns to counter propaganda from enemies, including Islamic extremists. The teams are part of a new unit called the Joint Psyops Support Element (JPSE), nicknamed "gypsy."

I've always been skeptical of the "public diplomacy" thing. I don't have a problem with it in the absract. The question is  exactly we're talking about. Call me naive, but the best ways to promote a positive U.S. image is to exemplify it, no? So a C-SPAN for the Arab world--I'm all for it. An ad campaign cooked up by military psy-op guys? Well, jeez, I dunno.

The risk isn't just that it won't work. But that it will be counter-productive. Ham-fisted advertising makes you look insincere. Remember the winning "Muslims as Apple Pie" series?

Comments

[Zathras]

Eric, there are two issues here. On what one might call the micro level there is no reason a program like the Pentagon's cannot have a useful effect, if it is well conceived and executed. Admittedly those are major qualifications, but without knowing more about what the JPSE's are up to I'm reluctant to be critical on the specifics.

My problem is on the macro level. I don't think by this time one should be thought overly sensitive if one points out that this is yet another example of the Defense Department taking the lead in an area where it should be doing no more than support policies made elsewhere in the government. In this case, public diplomacy and media relations should be handled out of the State Department, which has an Undersecretaryship devoted to this purpose.

Not untypically for this administration, State performed dismally in the public diplomacy area in Bush's first term. His announced nominee for the Public Diplomacy Under Secretary job, the campaign consultant Karen Hughes, has not be officially nominated yet and is unlikely to begin work until late in the year. So Defense is moving to fill the vacuum. This is characteristic of Rumsfeld, but I'm not sure he is really the problem here.

[Elvin]

Instead of fussing over models backstage, Bon Jovi's Richie Sambora and Nikki Lund ? designers for the White Trash Beautiful brand ? hung out in the front row of their own fashion show, gabbing with actress Heather Locklear, Sambora's ex,