Top officer says US bungling Muslim outreach

AP on Yahoo ^ | 8/28/09 | Anne Gearan - ap

[NormsRevenge]

WASHINGTON – The U.S. military is bungling its outreach to the Muslim world and squandering good will by failing to live up to its promises, the nation's highest-ranking military officer wrote Friday.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said there is too much emphasis on telling the U.S. story and not enough on building trust and credibility.

"We hurt ourselves and the message we are trying to send when it appears we are doing something merely for the credit," Mullen wrote in an essay published in a military journal. "We hurt ourselves more when our words don't align with our actions."

Mullen said he dislikes the military's focus on "strategic communications," which he said has become a cottage industry where the shaping of a message eclipses what that message says.

[ConorMacNessa]

Our outreach should be with a clenched iron fist - it's all they understand and respect.

Lamh Foistenach Abu!

[grey_whiskers]

We should not "outreach" but convert.

Ann Coulter was right.

And F*** the ACLU and their mythical "separation of church and state" -- that is not in the Constitution, but in a private letter written by Jefferson. (Who wrote the Declaration, not the Constitution, anyway...)

Cheers!

[Bean Counter]

Perhaps we need a fresh approach Norm...

[freekitty]

Gee, doesn’t this guy know Obama does care one hoot about credibility or trust. That’s the last thing on his mind.

[freekitty]

meant doesn’t.

[doc1019]

We should not "outreach" but convert.

Convert them to ashes.

[TigersEye]

Maybe the military just isn’t suited to be social workers.

[MamaDearest]

Maybe the military just isn’t suited to be social workers.

If Nancy Pelosi had her way, the CIA would be. If Obama, Pelosi, Frank and Dean were put in front lines of either the Iraq or Afghanistan wars, they'd be tap dancing to a different tune.

Did anyone catch the "news" that the Kennedy casket was not to be seen loading from the house to the hearse (to be respectful). However, democrats have had no such respect for military casualties coming back from both wars.

[Spirochete]

The U.S. military is bungling ... squandering good will ... live up to its promises

Foolish liberals think the military should be a discovery lab for social tinkering and an international outreach/meals-on-wheels

The military's sole purpose is subjugation of enemies by killing them and breaking their stuff. When you sieze the enemy by the short & curlies, their hearts & minds will follow.

[milford421]

“Our outreach should be with a clenched iron fist - it’s all they understand and respect.”

Exactly. Not at all comforting to see such clueless people in power.

[Psycho_Bunny]

"When I was a lad I served a term

As office boy to an Attorney's firm...."

[elpadre]

It has not been our words but our deeds in both Iraq and Afghanistan that count. The US has poured money into both countries. We have fed them, built roads, bridges, schools, hospitals for them. We have trained police, armed forces, medical personnel, government leaders, teachers and on and on. And most importantly we have poured the blood of our young men and women that they may know freedom from the tyranny of the Taliban and AQ.

The US is and has been the best friend either country has ever know throughout history. Maybe that is what they should learn. Besides it is not what you say, but what and how you serve.

I submit the good admiral may not be as smart as we have been giving him credit.

[supermop]

Picture in morning paper showed eight (8) husky military personnel carrying the casket. Teddy sure weighed a lot to require 8 pallbearers. Wonder why they were military personnel? Anybody know why?

[lowbridge]

I say the muslims bungled it first

[Osage Orange]

What our esteemed “Representatives” don’t get....is we could have easily had 35-45k Americans dead on that day......

[PhiKapMom]

What is with this outreach to Muslims? Is that why our military cannot go into villages after the Taliban?

Bad enough we have a political correct President but wasn’t expecting it out of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

[Godwin1]

Time to remove this clueless, chairborne, PC bureaucrat in uniform from the Chain of Command. We do indeed need to reach out to the Muslims most in need of outreach. Drones, direct and indirect fire, high performance air. Anything, in a word, that goes “bang-bang” or “pop-pop.”