Before this war, few respected moderates in Beirut or in the greater Arab world paid much attention to Nasrallah. Now his stock in many sectors has soared. He is the darling of the man on the Arab street for not just keeping his forces in the field for more than thirty days with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) but by apparently, some say, winning.
By appearing almost daily on al-Manar ("The Beacon," the name of his own Hezbollah TV), al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya TV during the conflict saying, "We have not been harmed," Nasrallah made himself the most important face of the war, eclipsing everyone in the governments of Israel and Lebanon.
No matter what Nasrallah did, his magnificence was so magnified by his own media machine that he emerged from his run-in with Israel as, among many, nearly an Arab Messiah. And whatever his own media generated then ricocheted around the globe, propelled by more biased anti-American media.
Even though Nasrallah may now be in hot water for the devastation in Lebanon, his media campaign has to be deemed a success. At least it was a media campaign greater than the one apparently fielded by America.
So, we keep asking ourselves, where is Karen Hughes? Or, more correctly, where is the mighty U.S. and its public diplomacy?
Didn't the president hire Karen Hughes? Wasn't she supposed to work the media to reverse or at least fight against blatantly biased and outright misinformed media by anti-American outlets? Wasn't Karen Hughes supposed to spread the truth and goodness of America?
The U.S. Department of State web site says Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes "helps ensure that public diplomacy (engaging, informing, and influencing key international audiences) is practiced in harmony with public affairs (outreach to Americans) and traditional diplomacy to advance U.S. interests and security and to provide the moral basis for U.S. leadership in the world."
Well, we give Karen Hughes and whomever she works for an "F."
She is lucky I am an easy grader because she should be fired.
Are we to expect that Nasrallah stole a march on the entire U.S. government and that is O.K.?
Didn't the president hire his Texas friend Karen Hughes, with a salary clearly over $150,000 a year, to do for the U.S. just what Nasrallah is doing in his spare time? I mean, am I the only one outraged?
The degree of lasting political clout Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah have gained remains to be seen. But there is a gain, not a loss.
And in the Arab world and elsewhere; the image of America is taking a beating daily with reports often filled with inaccuracies, factual errors and blatantly anti-American biases.
Isn't America the number one media giant in the world? Isn't Hollywood the world leader in message production?
Aren't we at war? Last I checked, the president said we were. So why can't we mobilize anything beyond the Defense Department? Why can't we create a Truth Media Campaign for America? Even a Truth Squad? How about a Truth Cub Scout Pack for America?
The president says "we are getting crushed on the P.R. front."
By appearing almost daily on al-Manar ("The Beacon," the name of his own Hezbollah TV), al-Jazeera and al-Arabiya TV during the conflict saying, "We have not been harmed," Nasrallah made himself the most important face of the war, eclipsing everyone in the governments of Israel and Lebanon.
No matter what Nasrallah did, his magnificence was so magnified by his own media machine that he emerged from his run-in with Israel as, among many, nearly an Arab Messiah. And whatever his own media generated then ricocheted around the globe, propelled by more biased anti-American media.
Even though Nasrallah may now be in hot water for the devastation in Lebanon, his media campaign has to be deemed a success. At least it was a media campaign greater than the one apparently fielded by America.
Didn't the president hire Karen Hughes? Wasn't she supposed to work the media to reverse or at least fight against blatantly biased and outright misinformed media by anti-American outlets? Wasn't Karen Hughes supposed to spread the truth and goodness of America?
The U.S. Department of State web site says Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Karen Hughes "helps ensure that public diplomacy (engaging, informing, and influencing key international audiences) is practiced in harmony with public affairs (outreach to Americans) and traditional diplomacy to advance U.S. interests and security and to provide the moral basis for U.S. leadership in the world."
Well, we give Karen Hughes and whomever she works for an "F."
She is lucky I am an easy grader because she should be fired.
Are we to expect that Nasrallah stole a march on the entire U.S. government and that is O.K.?
Didn't the president hire his Texas friend Karen Hughes, with a salary clearly over $150,000 a year, to do for the U.S. just what Nasrallah is doing in his spare time? I mean, am I the only one outraged?
The degree of lasting political clout Hassan Nasrallah and Hezbollah have gained remains to be seen. But there is a gain, not a loss.
And in the Arab world and elsewhere; the image of America is taking a beating daily with reports often filled with inaccuracies, factual errors and blatantly anti-American biases.
Isn't America the number one media giant in the world? Isn't Hollywood the world leader in message production?
Aren't we at war? Last I checked, the president said we were. So why can't we mobilize anything beyond the Defense Department? Why can't we create a Truth Media Campaign for America? Even a Truth Squad? How about a Truth Cub Scout Pack for America?
The president says "we are getting crushed on the P.R. front."
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