Rumsfeld Talks

Rumsfeld Talks

Posted by samc on January 23rd, 2008

Private media does not get up in the morning and say what can we do to promote the values and ideas that the free Western nations believe in. It gets up in the morning and says they’re going to try to make money by selling whatever they sell.

The way they decided to do that is to be dramatic and if it bleeds it leads is the common statement in the media today. They’ve got their job, and they have to do that, and that’s what they do.

We need someone in the United States government, some entity, not like the old USIA. I think this agency, a new agency, has to be something that would take advantage of the wonderful opportunities that exist today. There are multiple channels for information.

The Internet is there, pods are there, talk radio is there, e-mails are there. There are all kinds of opportunities.

We do not with any systematic organized way attempt to engage the battle of ideas and talk about the idea of beheading, and what’s it’s about and what it means. And talk about the fact that people are killing more Muslims than they are non-Muslims, these extremists. They’re doing it with suicide bombs and the like. We need to engage and not simply be passive and allow that battle of competition of ideas.

But Charlie Rose is no schlock peddler. Here’s Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid talking with Terry Gross today about Pakistani politics.

source : dailywireless.org