The US seems to be taking more serious steps in fighting the propaganda war worldwide. Not only have we set up a media center in Pakistan, we’ve also appointed a former advertising executive to create propaganda favorable to our side in the ongoing war. While I’m averse to getting a snow job from the government, I think that we do have to think hard about how to get our message across in the Muslim world. Certainly the hardcore Islamists don’t care what we have to say, but we should be trying to win over moderates Muslims with a message that says we respect their culture and religious practice, but not at the expense of individual freedom and human rights (one might argue that we don’t have the moral authority to say that given the governments we do support in the Muslim world). One of the bigggest problems we face is that even when we do the right thing, people who blame the US for everything portray it as the wrong thing. We should have an Arabic-speaking Muslim on Al Jazeera every day explaining the US positions on any issue that the journalists want to talk about. I doubt that that’s what Charlotte Beers has in mind as her mission, though.