Voice of America v. Al Jazeera
VAdmiral Norbert Ryan has kindly had the Military Officers Association of America do an article about me regarding my interest in seeing that portion of the 9/11 Commission Report more fully implemented to bring up in native dialects, 24/7 and use both in TV and radio format the Voice of America.
It is my opinion (at age 68 now, looking back) that any war today has to have a proactive progadanda arm which in the case of SW Asia and the Middle East is Voice of America vs. Al Jazeera, which at the moment is eating our lunch out of the UAE.
In Pakistan, out OF 166 million total population, around 46 million are illiterate. In Afghanistan out of a population of around 37 million, around 26.3 million are illiterate.
Hundreds of millions of Muslims, in the aggregate, in SW Asia and the Middle East being illiterate they depend 100% on radio and TV, often in the mountains of Pakistan and Afghanistan these are battery operated.
We are badly ignoring the radio and TV broadcast mediums propaganda side of this war. Little ole ladies in tennis shoes are testifying in 2008 before House and Senate Appropriations Committees against using Voice of American in the War on Terrorism. Understand, since 1998 when the US Information Agency was abolished, VOA today is an integral part of the US Department of State.
Here is the OFFICER MAGAZINE April, 2008 Internet site to look at the direct article, which you can comment on via the MOAA feedback website if a MOAA Member, or by an e-mail letter to the editor of the OFFICER MAGAZINE if not yet (I want you to join us!) a MOAA Member.
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/moaa/mo0408/
GENERAL PETRAEUS IS ON THE COVER OF THE APRIL 2008 OFFICER MAG.
Once you copy and paste onto your search site on your computer you will find the MOAA OFFICER MAGAZINE website. The magazine cover is a photo of General Petraeus. Then at the top of your screen go to and click on Search and enter Singleton which will get you to page 28 for a national article about me. There is an on-line discussion website you may want to read and post to, as well, provided you are MOAA members to have posting rights. You can read postings in any event.
The Military Officers Association of America is one of the top 5 veterans organizations in the United States, as recognized by and advisory to both the U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the US Department of Defense, and the U.S. State Department. The others of the top 5 veterans organizations nationally are the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Purple Heart Association, and Veterans of Foreign Wars.
The focus of this article as far as I am concerned is getting more Congressional funding for VOICE OF AMERICA radio and TV broadcasts in the native dialects into Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, and Iraq, in particular, in their native dialects, twenty four hours a day, seven days a week vs. the lies daily being put out by Al Jazeera radio and TV daily.
Wartime success in all US history is practically accomplished by a very strong propaganda program.
VOICE OF AMERICA since 1998 is a part of the US Department of State. Some of you will recall the success of VOA under the late Edward R. Morrow when it was a part of the United States Information Agency before the 1998 merger into the State Department.
You can comment on the website at end of the magazine article if you want to give your opinion on uses of Voice of America (VOA) to better help fight the war on terrorism.
George Singleton
Hoover, Alabama
VOA vs. Al Jazeera is still badly needed
Thanks for your feedback. I assume your read the interview with me in OFFICER MAGAZINE to know I have been there, both in the military, later as an international banker, and then in 1991 "dust up."
Al Jazeera TV, in particular, is eating our lunch, using ex-BBC broadcasters in fact on air who speak Arabic.
But, I do agree with you that most of the grassroots people over there are chronic liars to our understanding, and yes, they do change the facts to suit their purposes, but those doing such are above average not illiterate bumpkins.
What today, and yesterday, works is direct source information. TV broadcasts by Voice of America will be most effective. The illiterate watcher identifies over time with the face, or talking head, on the screne, if that personality repeats on air over time.
Your views of boots on ground only are historically sound but only in the winning sense when accompanied, based on history, not your or my opinion,s by effective propaganda program.
Thanks for your input,
George Singleton
I'm deeply critical of American foreign policy
and no one pays much attention to me either...:(
You said:
Quote:
Frankly, it is hard for a US-branded media to make many inroads--the brand has been discredited, the policy is unpopular, and propaganda efforts look like, well, propaganda efforts. The dismal performance of (American) al-Hurra TV and Radio al-Sawa is a case in point.
I'd suggest that the pathetic US Media is so very bad that they deserve little attention being paid them -- and that long pre-dates al-Hirra / al-Sawa. It will also unfortunately be true long after no one recalls those two failed efforts
Our numerous errors in the ME over the last 60 years have come home to roost. Lick upon us. The fascinating thing to me is that the Arabists in academia and the government who should have kept us out of most of these messes are in fact those that contributed the most to us being where we are today.
As I pointed out to Tom, the policy folks
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rex Brynen
I agree with Tom, and would go a step further: until recently, it was not unusual for the policy and academic community to do their things in almost complete isolation from each other. Folks in the IC box rarely got out of that box to talk to academic experts. People in State and DoD were too busy on daily issues to have the time or inclination to engage scholars working on the region.
were educated by those in the academic community. There were and are people in both communities that truly understand the ME and will look under the table to determine what's going on -- my observation has been that too many in both do not do so.
Quote:
The problem was equally severe on the academic side. In the US ME Studies community, distaste for US policy was so great that many scholars were pleased not to be engaged with policy makers.
Also true and frankly, I'm not sure who that is an indictment of. Perhaps no one. Regardless, it is a significant problem but I also suggest that some nominal academic experts that make public statements fail to convince me that they really understand the subtleties of ME political machinations. Or the depth of that distaste I mentioned...
Will also ackowledge the politeness that pervades the ME and the zahir / batin phenomenon can be confusing... :wry:
I agree with most of the rest of your comment.
Quote:
...Also open for question is, as Tom notes, the actual influence of all this on policy.
True but I submit the evidence in the public domain is that the actual influence of those to whom I apply the tag in the Intel and Foreign Policy communities while not totally pervasive is indicative of enough influence -- and enough misreading no matter how well intentioned -- to have caused more than one of our many miscues in the region.
That said, it an exceedingly difficult cultural divide to transcend and I fully understand that. That applies to both the Western - ME divide and the Academy - Policy divide... :D
Ken, don't give us educators
so much credit - or blame.:o I don't know how many times my former students have disappointed me by doing things that I thought I had showed them had backfired in the past. On the other hand, I've talked with other former students - who did things things that followed logically from my courses - only to find that they had other reasons of their own for doing them!
Cheers
JohnT
No real intent to do either.
People are seeing an attack where none was intended -- or made.
Your point is acknowledged -- more than and I can sure empathize; seen the same thing... :(
It is just my perception that in the realm of ME studies and expertise in the west in general and in the US in particular, there happen to be a surprising number of practitioners who miss many of the undercurrents -- and I also have said that in that area of the world, that is very easy to understand. I am certainly no expert and don't claim to be. However, I have learned that in that part of the world little is as it seems and there are almost always hidden motives and to us westerners, hidden agendas. One 'interprets' the words and actions from there with considerable caution -- and ideally, very, very slowly. Unless one is overfilled with certitude or has an agenda, that is...
I think it's a given that one can lead a student to water but cannot make him drink. There are others that will find the water on their own; still more that can be lead and will drink. Experts in any realm can and do err.
If that realm entails the true understanding and accurate interpretation of a vastly different culture then the number of truly knowledgeable experts in the field from a given sized pool will be far smaller than will that of truly knowledgeable experts in the field from a similar sized pool of say, civil engineers. Engineering is essentially a science with firm rules.
Interpreting the intent of humans, particularly humans who do not think like you do, is like warfare, it isn't a science -- it's an art. All the education in the world will not help those who aren't artists.
I of course strongly disagree with your view, we need VOA now, better
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Rex Brynen
Absolutely.
I would also add that al-Jazeera and the other satellite TV stations in the Middle East are not the "enemy." Certainly, they play to their audience, and their audience is deeply suspicious and bitterly critical of US foreign policy. In this sense, they in the Arab context Arabs what Fox New's ultra patriotism is on the US media scene. But al-Jazeera and others are also a free media, and provide voice for reformers and democrats who were long stifled by authoritarian regimes.
Frankly, it is hard for a US-branded media to make many inroads--the brand has been discredited, the policy is unpopular, and propaganda efforts look like, well, propaganda efforts. The dismal performance of (American) al-Hurra TV and Radio al-Sawa is a case in point.
In my own view the US can do far better by engaging the Middle East media as it exists, and articulating different views on and through it, than trying to compete with it.
While I respect your different opinion, we need our own Voice of America TV and radio broadcasts into Afghanistan and Paksitan, now, not some muddle of untrusthworthy Middle East Arab broadcasts.
Al Jazeera is owned and funded by a UAE Shiek, hardly a "democratic" fellow.
[COLOR="red"]Since 1995, Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani has ruled Qatar, seizing control of the country from his father Khalifa bin Hamad Al Thani while the latter vacationed in Switzerland. Qatar ranks as the ninth richest country in the world per capita.
Qatar served as the headquarters and one of the main launching sites of the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. This is noted to be objective in disagreeing with you.
In 2005, a suicide-bombing killed a British teacher at the Doha Players Theatre, shocking a country that had not previously experienced few acts of terrorism.
Afghanistan and the NWFP area of Paksitan, where I served for two years both speak Pashto. The rest of Pakistan depending on the Province involved speak: Urdu, Punjabi, Sindhi, Saraiki, and Balochi.
The key reason we disagree here is that VOA must be our propaganda arm for the next 100 years in the context of the long term ideological war with radical Islam. VOA is an within the US State Department, our official propaganda organ, VOA, which is why we cannot use local Arab media in lieu of VOA. In this war on terrorism we are mainly fighting an ideological war, extremist, terrorist, to my understanding heretical Islamic jiihadists, but many other Muslims without the balance of VOA in their native dialects are being brought into the terrorist thinking Muslim camp thanks in part to the pro-radical Islam Al Jazeera interviews, coverage, and release of terrorists messages to the world using Al Jazeera as their communications medium.
Too, please note that Paks, Afghans, and Iranians, in the main, are not Arabs and few speak Arabic. Al Jazeera is just now expanding their pro-terrorist broadcasts, TV and radio, into Pakistani dialects and the in common Afghan-NWFP Pashto dialect. We must compete to deal in the long term, 100 years horizon, if not longer, in this religiously based ideological debate.
Here are some illiteracy data on non-Arabic speaking poorest of the poor Muslims of both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Quote: Of 166 million Pakistanis, 46 million are illiterate and depend solely on TV or radio for news, which Al Jazeera, the terrorist network out of the UAE currently provides to them.
Out of a total Afghan population of 37 million, 26.3 million are illiterate. They, too depend on Al Jazeera for news.
Voice of America needs to get correct dialect speaking on 24/7 TV and radio programming into Pakistan and Afghanistan, yesterday.
Here is a bit of the 9/11 Commission Report which due to it's July, 2004 issue date and focus misses the point of non-Arabic speaking hot spots which are belatedly, now, to be fair, identified as Pakistan and Afghanistan, all over again.
PARTIAL QUOTE FROM JULY 2004 9/11 COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS:
Recognizing that Arab and Muslim audiences rely on satellite television and radio, the government has begun some promising initiatives in television and radio broadcasting to the Arab world, Iran, and Afghanistan. These efforts are beginning to reach large audiences. The Broadcasting Board of Governors has asked for much larger resources. It should get them. (Page 377) The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was established under the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6201). The BBG provides oversight and guidance to U.S. non-military international broadcast services, including Voice of America, Radio and TV Marti, WORLDNET Television and Film Service, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio Sawa, and the Middle East Television Network (METN). Radio Sawa is a region-wide Arabic language radio station that combines western and Arabic popular music with news broadcasts and specialized programming. METN is an Arabic language television station designed to bolster U.S. public diplomacy efforts in the Middle East. See GAO, State Department and Broadcasting Board of Governors Expand Post-9/11 Efforts but Challenges Remain , GAO-04-1061T, Aug. 23, 2004. The pending Commerce, Justice, and State Department Appropriations bill, H.R. 4754, FY 2005, provides 65 million for broadcasting in Arabic ($20 million increase over President's request). Contacts: Mark Speight, Assistant General Counsel, IAT; Ernie Jackson, Senior Attorney
And here are some facts about Al Jazeera which on balance do not agree with your postive view that Al Jazeera "isn't all bad." It is against us, against the War on Terrorism, and is the "Voice" of al Qaida and the Taliban to the rest of the world, which I for one don't find either friendly or democratic.
Al Jazeera is a television network headquartered in Doha, Qatar, UAE. The UAE and Pakistan prior to 9/11 were the only two nations in the world to recognize the Taliban governed, al Qaida infested old Afghanistan, lets be clear on these facts.
Initially launched as an Arabic news and current affairs satellite TV channel with the same name, Al Jazeera has since expanded into a network with several outlets, including the Internet and specialty TV channels in multiple languages, and in several regions of the world.
The original Al Jazeera channel's willingness to broadcast dissenting views, including on call-in shows, created controversies in Persian Gulf States. The station gained worldwide attention following the September 11, 2001 attacks, when it broadcast video statements by Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders.[/COLOR]
History
The original Al Jazeera channel was started in 1996 with a US$150 million grant from the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa.
In April 1996, the BBC World Service's Saudi-co-owned Arabic language TV station, faced with censorship demands by the Saudi Arabian government, shut down after two years of operation. Many former BBC World Service staff members joined Al Jazeera, which at the time was not yet on air. The channel began broadcasting in late 1996.
Al Jazeera's availability (via satellite) throughout the Middle East changed the television landscape of the region. Prior to the arrival of Al Jazeera, many Middle Eastern citizens were unable to watch TV channels other than state-censored national TV stations. Al Jazeera introduced a level of freedom of speech on TV that was previously unheard of in many of these countries. Al Jazeera presented controversial views regarding the governments of many Persian Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar; it also presented controversial views about Syria's relationship with Lebanon, and the Egyptian judiciary. Critics accused Al Jazeera of sensationalism in order to increase its audience share.
It wasn't until late 2001 that Al Jazeera achieved worldwide recognition, when it broadcast video statements by al-Qaeda leaders. The original Al Jazeera and today's Al Jazeera are quite different. Today Al Jazeera is clearly pro-terrorist in terms of public relations and communcations as the enabler of recordings, video tapings, and such of key al Qaida terrorists used to broadcast to and threaten the rest of the non-radical Muslim and all other faith systems world.
Funding
Further to the initial US$ 150 million grant from the Emir of Qatar, Al Jazeera had aimed to become self-sufficient through advertising by 2001, but when this failed to occur, the Emir agreed to continue subsidizing it on a year-by-year basis (US$30 million in 2004,according to Arnaud de Borchgrave). Other major sources of income include advertising, cable subscription fees, broadcasting deals with other companies, and sale of footage. In 2000, advertising accounted for 40% of the station's revenue.
Remember the Emir is a potentate for life, hardly a democratic form of government for Qatar.
Thanks for you views and for allowing me mine. Voice of America helped win the Cold War and we need a greatly expanded, better funded VOA in all the right linguistic dialects not in just the short run but for the next 100 years if not longer in our long term ideological war against terroristm and radical Islam.
4/7/08 CBS-TV News clip on VOA -Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-AL
A former Marine who is now a TV news journalist for one of our major TV stations in the Greater Birmingham, Alabama market did two interviews yesterday in support of increased in proper native dialects and better funded Voice of America vs. Al Jazeera TV and radio broadcasting as per the 9/11 Commission report, which reads in part from July, 2004:
Recognizing that Arab and Muslim audiences rely on satellite television and radio, the government has begun some promising initiatives in television and radio broadcasting to the Arab world, Iran, and Afghanistan. These efforts are beginning to reach large audiences. The Broadcasting Board of Governors has asked for much larger resources. It should get them. (Page 377) The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) was established under the United States International Broadcasting Act of 1994 (22 U.S.C. 6201). The BBG provides oversight and guidance to U.S. non-military international broadcast services, including Voice of America, Radio and TV Marti, WORLDNET Television and Film Service, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio Sawa, and the Middle East Television Network (METN). Radio Sawa is a region-wide Arabic language radio station that combines western and Arabic popular music with news broadcasts and specialized programming. METN is an Arabic language television station designed to bolster U.S. public diplomacy efforts in the Middle East. See GAO, State Department and Broadcasting Board of Governors Expand Post-9/11 Efforts but Challenges Remain , GAO-04-1061T, Aug. 23, 2004. The pending Commerce, Justice, and State Department Appropriations bill, H.R. 4754, FY 2005, provides 65 million for broadcasting in Arabic ($20 million increase over President's request). Contacts: Mark Speight, Assistant General Counsel, IAT; Ernie Jackson, Senior Attorney
Hope this background info is helpful.
Here is my feeble attempt to attach the 4/7/08 CBS-42 news clip, interview with Congressman Spencer Bachus, R-AL and me as the focus of the MOAA OFFICER MAGAZINE article in April, 2008 issue regarding Voice of America revival and increased funding/proper linguists:
http://www.cbs42.com/news/local/17377219.html
Then on this CBS42 local TV news sight go to box on right hand side of web page and click on "A war of words" to see the interviews regarding Voice of America's critical propaganda role as recommended by the 9/11 Commission Report with interviews with Colonel George Singleton (me) and US Congressman Spencer Bachus, R-AL who has made improved use and funding of VOA a plank in his re-election to Congress platform as of 4/7/08.