Political correctness is losing the War on Terror

The true weakness in our application of the informational aspect of national power is our societal inability to voice contrasting opinions about the War on Terror due to a climate of political correctness. The current conventional wisdom reference the relationship of Islam to Al-Qaeda and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center is that Islam is a religion of peace and that Al-Qaeda is an ‘extremist’ group hijacking an otherwise peaceful religion. This is the politically correct talking point. If a public figure were to propose a contrary view, that Islam is not a peaceful religion, he would be vilified for being a bigot. By not allowing our scholars and public officials have an honest and candid conversation about the true nature of the ongoing conflict we are handicapping our ability as a nation to understand, fight, and win the conflict.

Despite the massive scope of our military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, there is a great deal of evidence that the War on Terror as waged by the ‘extremists’ is predominantly an informational war. Due to our political correctness we are losing that war without even attempting to fight. A great example of this informational war is the reaction from the Islamic world to the 2005 Danish political cartoons. The unified voice coming out of the Islamic world was that our free speech should be curbed in reference to Islam and Muslims. Essentially that one of our core Western values should be subordinated to the demands of Islamic law. The only limitation to free speech that our courts recognize is speech that violations the harm principal proposed by John Stuart Mill. He stated that "the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.” The demand from the Muslim community to subordinate one of our most cherished rights is one example of the ongoing war of information that our political correctness will not let us acknowledge or fight.

Another example of the ongoing informational war is the purchasing of influential media and educational institutions by members of the Saudi royal family. Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has given over $20 million to Harvard and Georgetown University for their Islamic studies institutes. The two institutions do not hide the donation as shown with his name prominently displayed across their websites:

Islamic Studies Program at Harvard

Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown

The stated purpose for Harvard is to “bridge gaps in understanding between East and West and ensure that Harvard's capacity in Islamic Studies matches more fully the depth of Islam's rich historical and geographically diverse cultures.” For Georgetown, the purpose is to build “bridges of understanding between the Muslim world and the West, addressing stereotypes of Islam and Muslims and issues and questions such as the clash of civilizations, and the compatibility of Islam and modern life - from democratization and pluralism to the status of women, minorities and human rights - and American foreign policy in the Muslim world.” Both remarkably similar and both very idealistic and in-line with the politically correct notion that Islam is a religion of peace.

However, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s purchased a large share of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. The following link shows the magnitude of his purchase and the influence it gives him with Rupert Murdoch.

NY Times article disclosing Talal's stake in News Corp.

This purchase in itself is not a problem; just a smart businessman making a smart investment. However, his use of the influence gained from his purchase may shed light on his intentions with the Harvard and Georgetown donations. During the 2005 French riots (‘civil unrest’ for the politically correct), Prince Alwaleed bin Talal used his influence to change the title of Fox News’ coverage of the event from “Muslim riots” to “civil riots”. Below is a transcript of the conversation between Prince Alwaleed bin Talal and Rupert Murdoch purportedly in his own words:

"I picked up the phone and called Murdoch.. . . . (and told him) these are not Muslim riots, these are riots out of poverty." "Within 30 minutes, the title was changed from Muslim riots to civil riots."

Middle East Online article on Talal's influence on Fox News

Based on his actions during the 2005 French riots, it is likely that he is using the influence purchased by his large donation to Harvard and Georgetown to shape academic research and scholarly opinions on Islam and the Middle East to his liking. He is successfully waging an informational war; a war that due to our political correctness we cannot or will not even recognize.

The bottom line with respect to our foreign policy and national strategy is that political correctness restricts our ability to have an honest and candid conversation about the true nature of the ongoing conflict. We have ceded the informational war to our enemies without even a fight.