How NOT to try and win Muslim “hearts and minds”

45321-the-united-states-capitol-buildingWhen the State Department Tries to Choose Muslim Thought Leaders to Win “Hearts and Minds” (Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept, 15 December 2015).

Glenn Greenwald succinctly skewers the latest round of misguided American government efforts to win Muslim “hearts and minds”.

As a 2004 Rumsfeld-commissioned study about the causes of Terrorism put it: “Muslims do not ‘hate our freedom,’ but rather, they hate our policies;” in particular, “American direct intervention in the Muslim world,” our “one sided support in favor of Israel”; support for Islamic tyrannies in places like Egypt and Saudi Arabia; and “the American occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan.” As a result, trying to change Muslim perceptions of the U.S. without changing U.S. policies of imperialism and militarism is the ultimate act of futility.

For the full article, click: When the State Department Tries to Choose Muslim Thought Leaders to Win “Hearts and Minds”

Photo credit: Reuters 2010

Tags: "hearts and minds", American foreign policy, Bill C-51, Canada, Canadian foreign policy, counter-terrorism, deradicalization, foreign policy, George W. Bush Jr., Human rights, imperialism, Islamic State, Israel, Middle East, Militarism, Muslim, National security, Peggy Mason, radicalization, Rideau Institute, Rumsfeld, Saudi Arabia, Stephen Harper, Terrorism, United States