U.S., Allies See Progress in Selling Al-Qaeda As an Enemy to the Muslim World

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By Walter Pincus
Monday, April 28, 2008; Page A13

The top White House terrorism expert thinks some gains are being made in the worldwide public relations battle against al-Qaeda, as the administration and its overseas allies press efforts to show that Osama bin Laden's network is killing Muslim civilians rather than defending its interests.

"More and more Muslim and Arab populations -- clerics and scholars -- are questioning the value of al-Qaeda's program," Juan Carlos Zarate, deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security adviser for combating terrorism, said Wednesday at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

The efforts he described are in line with plans that Michael E. Leiter, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, discussed in February before the same organization. Leiter, who is responsible for strategic communications planning in the fight against terrorism, said the goal is "to prevent the next generation of terrorists from emerging."

One approach, he said, is "to show that it is al-Qaeda, not the West, that is truly at war with Islam."

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/27/AR2008042701659.html