More than a few good men

The Daily Kos currently has a link to a report by the Pentagon's Defense Science Board. Some choice excerpts:

· Muslims do not "hate our freedom," but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favor of Israel and against Palestinian rights, and the longstanding, even increasing support for what Muslims collectively see as tyrannies, most notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, and the Gulf states.

· Thus when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypocrisy. Moreover, saying that "freedom is the future of the Middle East" is seen as patronizing, suggesting that Arabs are like the enslaved peoples of the old Communist World -- but Muslims do not feel this way: they feel oppressed, but not enslaved.

· Furthermore, in the eyes of Muslims, American occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has not led to democracy there, but only more chaos and suffering. U.S. actions appear in contrast to be motivated by ulterior motives, and deliberately controlled in order to best serve American national interests at the expense of truly Muslim selfdetermination.

· Therefore, the dramatic narrative since 9/11 has essentially borne out the entire radical Islamist bill of particulars. American actions and the flow of events have elevated the authority of the Jihadi insurgents and tended to ratify their legitimacy among Muslims. Fighting groups portray themselves as the true defenders of an Ummah (the entire Muslim community) invaded and under attack -- to broad public support.

· What was a marginal network is now an Ummah-wide movement of fighting groups. Not only has there been a proliferation of "terrorist" groups: the unifying context of a shared cause creates a sense of affiliation across the many cultural and sectarian boundaries that divide Islam.

I mentioned weeks ago that the reckless policies of the Bush administration would continue to alienate fiscal conservatives. It now appears that the same can be said for members of the military, which had begun protesting Bush even in the early days of the Iraqi invasion. These people are informed and experienced in the dynamics of nations and cultures in ways that failed businessmen from Connecti...er...I mean Texas are not. Despite Bush's win, his blowhard talk of "political capital" and "mandates", and his efforts to quickly clean house of anyone who disagrees with him, these people have laid out their case and told him straight out that all of this doesn't change the fact that he's still wrong.

For those who are about to be shipped out and shut up, we salute you.