Post by Islamic Revival on Mar 1, 2005 1:22:09 GMT -5
Bush seeks to sway European Muslim opinion via satellite TV
David Morgan in Washington and Reuters
Monday February 28, 2005
The Bush administration plans to begin Arab-language satellite-television broadcasts to Europe this year in an escalation of its information war against Islamist extremism.
A US-backed TV channel, al-Hurra, expects to transmit 24-hour programming to European Muslim communities regarded as possible breeding grounds of extremism.
Al-Hurra was set up in the Middle East in response to perceived anti-US bias in much of the Arabic media.But it has not proved popular.
France and Germany, which have western Europe's largest Muslim populations, would be a special focus for news and current affairs programmes intended to promote an American ethic of free speech and open debate, say US officials.
"The 9/11 hijackers came largely from Europe. It's a significant gap that we were not broadcasting in Arabic to Europe," said Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the US agency in charge of civilian broadcasts overseas.
The planned broadcasts are also meant as competition for the Qatar-based channel al-Jazeera, which Bush officials view as anti-American.
Start-up funding for the $3.5m (£1.8m) venture would come from George Bush's $81bn supplemental budget request for military operations in Iraq. Officials hope Virginia-based al-Hurra could begin broadcasting to Europe by the autumn.
The White House views satellite TV as a "soft-power tool" for building goodwill toward the US. Since last year's Madrid bombings, intelligence officials have warned of an increasing threat from European-born Islamists inspired by Osama bin Laden.
"The idea of appealing to these people to try to attract them away from an over-simplified view of America-as-villain seems to make sense," said Joseph Nye, a Harvard professor and former chairman of the National Intelligence Council.
Source: The Guardian
David Morgan in Washington and Reuters
Monday February 28, 2005
The Bush administration plans to begin Arab-language satellite-television broadcasts to Europe this year in an escalation of its information war against Islamist extremism.
A US-backed TV channel, al-Hurra, expects to transmit 24-hour programming to European Muslim communities regarded as possible breeding grounds of extremism.
Al-Hurra was set up in the Middle East in response to perceived anti-US bias in much of the Arabic media.But it has not proved popular.
France and Germany, which have western Europe's largest Muslim populations, would be a special focus for news and current affairs programmes intended to promote an American ethic of free speech and open debate, say US officials.
"The 9/11 hijackers came largely from Europe. It's a significant gap that we were not broadcasting in Arabic to Europe," said Kenneth Tomlinson, chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the US agency in charge of civilian broadcasts overseas.
The planned broadcasts are also meant as competition for the Qatar-based channel al-Jazeera, which Bush officials view as anti-American.
Start-up funding for the $3.5m (£1.8m) venture would come from George Bush's $81bn supplemental budget request for military operations in Iraq. Officials hope Virginia-based al-Hurra could begin broadcasting to Europe by the autumn.
The White House views satellite TV as a "soft-power tool" for building goodwill toward the US. Since last year's Madrid bombings, intelligence officials have warned of an increasing threat from European-born Islamists inspired by Osama bin Laden.
"The idea of appealing to these people to try to attract them away from an over-simplified view of America-as-villain seems to make sense," said Joseph Nye, a Harvard professor and former chairman of the National Intelligence Council.
Source: The Guardian