Word: arabize
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...White House has yet to make a convincing case that the risks of going to war are outweighed by the risks of not going to war. Saddam's PR offensive won't carry the day in Congress, but it may make a difference with his real target audience: his Arab neighbors. Baghdad knows the U.S. will find it difficult to go to war without regional support, both politically and strategically. Washington needs the Gulf states, Jordan and Turkey as staging areas, but it may need their political support even more. After all, when the Bush administration launched its campaign...
...Saddam's game plan, for now, is simple: Keep the neighbors out of Washington's camp by declaring a willingness to cooperate with the arms inspectors, and paint U.S. war plans as part of a wider American attack on the Arab and Muslim world. Better still, link it directly to the Bush administration's close relationship with the government of Ariel Sharon, whose policies offend even Washington's most moderate Arab allies. That's precisely what Saddam tried to do in 1991 when he fired SCUD missiles at Israel just as the U.S.-led coalition assault began, in hopes...
...also pointed out that the Defense Policy Board is not an official body - true, but it is a policy advisory group appointed by the Defense Secretary himself, and is visibly influential among hawkish civilians in the defense establishment. Despite being disowned by the Pentagon, the briefing raised hackles in Arab capitals, and the Saudis reiterated their firm rejection of a war on Iraq...
...gung-ho hawks in Washington have made the argument that toppling Saddam would facilitate an entire remaking of the Middle Eastern political equation on terms more favorable to the U.S. and Israel. And that's precisely the fear on the streets and in the corridors of power of the Arab capitals. Not that Rumsfeld is particularly concerned. On Tuesday, he went on the record disputing the characterization of the West Bank and Gaza as "occupied" by Israel, declining to criticize Israeli settlement activity there and trashing the notion of talking to the Palestinian Authority even as Bush administration officials prepared...
...Some planners in Washington believe they may have an easier time reaching the next generation of Arabs, and are pleased by the early success of their new Arabic-language station, Radio Sawa ("together"). Unlike the staid and preachy Voice of America (VOA), Radio Sawa targets a youth audience with trendy American and Arab pop music, attempting to get Washington's take on the news across in snippets that infrequently interrupt the Top 40 barrage. So far, only Arab audiences in Jordan, Dubai, and Kuwait have been able to tune in to Radio Sawa (the signal doesn't reach Cairo...