Lee Hamilton's March 25 op-ed piece is a well-intentioned but flawed explanation of why so much of the Arab world hates the U.S. and how increased funding for public relations can improve our standing there.
The former Democratic congressman wants to rehabilitate the image of the U.S. by engaging in an assortment of PR initiatives. Sure, we can directly address "the lies, illusions and misinterpretations that..circulate..around the globe." But it is much more important to address the truth of why our image is so poor in the first place.
President Bush launched, with congressional consent, an unprovoked war based
on false information and biased assumptions; an unlawful, preemptive invasion
and occupation that has destroyed a country and killed tens of thousands of
innocent people, but which has not uncovered any weapons of mass destruction
or any
evidence of collusion between Saddam Hussein and the 9/11 terrorists.
This is the reality, and providing funds to give it a better spin won't change that. The Arab world, all the world, deserves an honest admission of our error and an apology, backed up by getting our collective nose out of Iraq. And we should take all that PR money and re-direct it towards cleaning up the mess we've made.
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Zae Munn
212 Marquette Avenue
South Bend, IN 46617