'Soft war' goes missing amid 9/11 follow-up

As discussion of the 9/11 commission's recommendations continues with hearings in Congress this week, almost lost in the debate is the prominence the commission gave the need to vastly improve both how America is seen in the Islamic world and its influence there.

The commission named the softer side of the war on terror - the so-called battle for hearts and minds, and the effort to spread democracy and economic opportunity - as one of three broad "dimensions" of a necessary strategy. But the topic has received meager attention so far.

Still, some experts say the commission's call for action will have to be addressed simply because the war on terrorism can't be won without it.

"This may lack the sex appeal of fixing the intelligence agencies, but it's not something we can ignore and still expect to move forward against terrorism," says Mark Helmke, a public diplomacy specialist on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Some noted advocates of long-term "soft" solutions to fighting terror say they expected that agency reforms and a new intelligence "czar" would get the limelight - especially with the nation handling a new terror alert. "With a short-term threat on people's minds, it's not surprising they'd look at short-term strategies first," says Benjamin Barber, an expert in the roots of terrorism at the University of Maryland.

But Mr. Barber, whose new book, "Fear's Empire: Terrorism, War, and Democracy" analyzes long-term solutions to terrorism, says the US must move beyond defensive and protective security measures.

"If we stick to taking on the terrorists on the turf of fear, we're losing the battle even as we fight it," he says. Pointing to recent heightened security measures - roadblocks, checkpoints, and increased police presence in Washington, New York, and Newark, N.J. - Barber says, "We're spending millions and handing them a victory without them lifting a finger. And if we stay fixed on the short term, they win."

That sentiment was echoed in the commission testimony of Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who told the panel that to many foreign eyes Americans are "exporting our fears and our anger" more than a vision of opportunity and hope.

That's why it was right for the 9/11 commission to give the hearts and minds battle equal footing with going after the terrorists and protecting Americans at home, experts say. But they add that uncertainties about how to wage the "soft" war are likely to hamper the implementation of new initiatives.

Many emphasize that the hearts and minds battle was won before, in the cold war, and believe it can be done again. But some experts see a confounding difference. In the cold war the US was fighting a political ideology. The enemy now - no matter how clearly corrupted and unrepresentative of the larger population - is a segment of a major world religion.

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