Hilarious

Have a look at this piece in the Washington Post.

There’s been a State Department panel working on figuring out what the world thinks of the United States and their report concludes, “For what can be heard around the world, in the wake of the invasion of Iraq, the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib, and the controversy over the handling of detainees at Bagram and Guantanamo Bay, is that America is less a beacon of hope than a dangerous force to be countered.”

Not so much news to those of us who read the foreign press. Here’s what’s hilarious, and, I guess, also not surprising. The recommendation based on these facts is as follows: “The committee recommends boosting spending for public diplomacy and training foreign service officers in the use of research, polling and news media. It also urges the streamlining of visa procedures for international students.”

Right. Because what the world’s upset about is that little Lars or Mohammed or Xiang can’t get through customs in time for the fall semester and that we don’t know exactly how many of them hate us. It’s not that pesky war or our embarassingly illiterate, callous and awkward President or our government’s inability to protect its poorest citizens. We don’t need to actually address anything. All we need is better PR!

Well, that’s a relief.