The problem is that many in the Arab world hear Pat Robertson and LTG Boykin and think they speak for Americans.
I will say this--I sometimes participate in a politics discussion board that is predominantly South Carolinians. Hence we get a lot of people who are from the Christian right. I've been aghast at how many of those truly do hate Muslims and are convinced that the conflict with Islamic militants is the beginning of armageddon. We can scoff at this attitude, but these people vote. When during the Republican debate this week, Mike Huckabee said, "The conflict with Islamofascism is the biggest threat our nation has ever faced" I fell off my chair. If that is not THE stupidest thing I've heard come out of a politician's mouth, it makes the top 10. For starters, I think the word "Islamofascism" is ridiculously ignorant. But then to contend that Islamic militants are a threat on the level with the Soviets, Nazi Germany, or the Confederacy is, in a word, asinine.
But my point is, this reinforces negative ideas in the Islamic world. As T.X. Hammes says, we provide all the psychological warfare themes that AQ could ever need.
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