Spreading The Good Word About America In The Middle East
By Shoshana Bryen
The Bulletin
June 15, 2007
INSA (Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs) Report readers were horrified in March to find former CNN news director Larry Register running unedited interviews with terrorists on Alhurra, the U.S. taxpayer-financed Arabic language television station. It got worse when Register hired Yasser Thabet, former broadcast editor of al-Jazeera, whose personal blog carried paeans to terrorists. Thabet was fired fairly quickly; it took longer to get Register.
It took a combination of news reporting by Joel Mowbray and congressional interest sparked in part by JINSA. In May, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-N.Y.) chaired a well-attended hearing and Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.) and Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) authored a letter calling on Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to urge the Broadcasting Board of Governors to fire Register. But in Washington, it is money that talks. On June 5, the House Appropriations Committee's Subcommittee on Foreign Operations (Rothman and Kirk) zeroed out Alhurra's expected $14 million increase for 2008.
On June 8, Register resigned.
Register claims he was hounded out just for producing "balanced" television. No, he had to leave because he didn't understand the mandate. Reps. Rothman and Kirk wrote, "Alhurra was launched in 2004 to be a bridge between the U.S. and the Arab world, promoting American values such as freedom, democracy and the rule of law. To achieve this mandate, Alhurra aims to provide 'responsible coverage of breaking news in the Middle East.' ... It goes against everything our country stands for to literally hand terrorists a microphone ... to spread their vitriolic, hate-filled, anti-American, anti-Israel remarks. This is neither in America's best interest nor is it in the best interests of the Arab viewers who are tuning in to Alhurra."
The United States doesn't need to produce "balanced" Arab language television, half for the friends of democracy and half for the enemies, half for history and half for the Holocaust deniers, half for the builders and half for the wreckers. Enemies, Holocaust deniers and wreckers have the overwhelming majority of the Arab language media at their disposal. Alhurra is the counterbalance.
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Senator Tom Coburn
Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and International Security
340 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-2254 Fax: 202-228-3796
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