Roger Cohen writes in the NYT today about efforts made by Karen Hughes to frame a proper image of the USA in the Middle East.

He concludes: She's leading an interagency group, including the Defense Department and intelligence agencies, that has "identified some key countries" and is asking "how we can identify the 75,100 most influential clerics and work over the next three years to make sure we invite them." It's also examining "how might the Defense Department work on its military-to-military exchanges."

That's interesting; even more interesting is the fact that "in one of our first digital video conferences, on the screen as it happened, we were able to get two agencies of our government to learn about what the other one was doing that they hadn't known before."

There's the Bush administration for you. Stuff happens when you've got entire government departments out there freelancing. Bad stuff even Hughes-in-overdrive will struggle to undo.

Let Random Voices conclude by saying "Ms. Hughes is the third person to hold this position in the Bush administration. And every time a new person assumes the position, they start from square one. Improving the USA image has to be a long term endeavor and not a project for the rest of President Bush's term. Let us start by building lasting cultural bridges and us deal with the populace of the Middle East in a mature way. Let us stop supporting the despots in the region. The Department of State may hail the resumption of diplomatic relations with Libya as a new era. The people of the Middle East know Mr. Gaddafi for who he really is, a megalomaniac."