Contact: Josh Holly (HASC), 202-226-3988 George Rasley (Thornberry), 202-225-3706
Washington, D.C. – House Armed Services Subcommittee on Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities Ranking Republican Mac Thornberry (R-TX) released the following opening statement for the subcommittee’s hearing on strategic communications and comparative ideas:
“Mr. Chairman:
“When put in context, the subject of this hearing is incredibly important for our country's security.
“We face a determined, ruthless, adaptable enemy that uses terrorism as a tactic to advance their agenda.
“We will not defeat this enemy with military power alone. We must engage them—and engage them successfully—in the battle of ideas.
“But, I know of no one who argues that the United States is being successful, or even competent, in fighting this ideological battle. As one author noted last year, ‘A raft of studies and reports over the last several years by a variety of official, semi-official, and independent bodies from across the political spectrum has told a broadly similar story of institutional ineffectiveness, lack of strategic direction, and insufficient resources.’ (Carnes Lord, Losing Hearts and Minds? Public Diplomacy and Strategic Influence in the Age of Terror, 2006, pg. 5.)
“We must do better, or many, many people will suffer for our failure.
“Again, Mr. Chairman, a number of books and articles have been written on this subject. One book, called Winning the Long War, put it this way: ‘Winning the long war is all about winning the struggle of ideas, destroying the legitimacy of a competing ideology, and robbing the enemy of the support of the people. Such an effort implies some essential tasks: 1) understanding the enemy; 2) de-legitimizing its view of the world; 3) offering a credible alternative; and 4) demonstrating the will to prevail in the long conflict. . . . Long war strategy has to understand the enemy and do battle with its ideas.’ (James Carafano & Paul Rosenzweig, Winning the Long War, 2005, pg. 174.)
“And that brings us to today's hearing.
“Strategic Communication is not marketing; it is not simplistic slogans; it is not simply looking for better ways to tell the world how good we are. Strategic Communication is deeper and more sophisticated than that. It is how we communicate with—and thus relate to—the rest of the world.
“’Strategic communication synchronizes actions that include public diplomacy, public affairs, public relations, outreach, information operations, and psychological operations. Strategic communication is the overarching concept that unifies and focuses the right message to the right audience with the intent to shape perception.’ (Col. Dale C. Eikmeier, “How to Beat the Global Islamist Insurgency,” Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2005.)
“It is an enormous job that involves the collaborative work of all elements of our government—from the Departments of State, Defense and Commerce to the Intelligence Community and the judicial system. But success also requires that we capitalize upon the knowledge, expertise and skills of those outside of government to expand the reach and effectiveness of our message.
“We must ensure that we have an effective strategy and organization in place to make headway in this very difficult struggle. We must be able to understand the ideology of our adversary, develop the right message to counter it, communicate our message effectively within the cultural and historical context of the target population, and assess the results. We must also have the required determination and patience to allow our message to bear fruit.
“As a Defense Science Board study noted in 2004, ‘Strategic communication is a vital component of U.S. national security. It is in crisis and must be transformed with a strength of purpose that matches our commitment to diplomacy, defense, intelligence, law enforcement, and homeland security.’
“I look forward to hearing the testimony of these experts as to how to best take real steps forward in this important struggle.”
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