This Just In From the Middle East

By Al Kamen
Friday, May 20, 2005

The more things change. . . . America's low standing in the Arab world is hardly a new concern for policymakers. And while there are high hopes that the new chief -- formidable White House insider Karen P. Hughes -- can reinvigorate the State Department's public diplomacy effort (as soon as she gets to town), there are also skeptics.

Consider this letter from Col. William A. Eddy , former U.S. chief of mission in Saudi Arabia and a fluent Arabic speaker, to a senior oil company executive, in which he discussed "the problem of a better presentation of the American point of view to the Arabs." Eddy had recently met with an assistant secretary of state for these matters.

"At that time," Eddy wrote, "I gave them very candid criticisms on the basis of what I observed in Jeddah last Spring and Summer and of what I heard from Arabs in other areas, including Cairo and Beirut.

"I am afraid the real trouble is that this particular function can never be wholly successful," he wrote in a letter unearthed by our former colleague, Mideast expert and author Thomas W. Lippman , "when operated by the State Department."

"So long as the State Department has charge of it, the [government program] both on the air and in print must conform to the substance of our diplomatic policy and communications, which means that even in countries behind the Iron Curtain, which we recognize in fact as enemies, the [program] has to be artificially polite and untruthful so as not to foul up the diplomatic relations which we still maintain as a fiction. The same restraint affects what is done in friendly countries," the letter said.

In other words, the audiences assume that U.S.-run media simply reflect U.S. policy to the various governments in the region. Not a wholly unreasonable assumption.

Eddy said he thought this function should be placed in the hands of the Pentagon's psy-war guys.

The letter is dated Feb. 2, 1951.

If Your Appetite Survives, Coburn Pays

Attention, Loop Fans! There is a potentially significant change in Sen. Tom Coburn 's gross venereal disease education and pizza lunch for staff and members in the Capitol on Thursday.

This is the slide show and lunch the Oklahoma Republican and physician has hosted for years on the House side to warn of the ravages of sexually transmitted diseases. In the past, groups such as the abstinence-advocating Institute for Youth Development sponsored and paid for the lunches.

But now, Coburn's office said in an e-mail, "the Senate Ethics Committee staff . . . has concluded that Dr. Coburn is the actual sponsor of the event." So Coburn was ordered to change his Dear Colleague invitation and advise all invitees of that change.

Worse yet, the e-mail said, the committee staff concluded that Coburn is responsible for "the costs of the pizza lunch." Coburn, who has been warring with the committee on whether ethics rules require him to give up his weekend medical practice back home, has agreed to do so.

So does this mean no anchovies on the pizza? Not at all, Coburn communications director John Hart assured us. "This will not adversely affect the number of toppings available."

But it will affect Coburn's pocketbook. About 250 or so people usually attend these events. So, figuring four to a pizza, we're talking 62 large ones, which, even with a bulk discount, could be as high as $1,000, depending on toppings and soft drinks.

Significant savings could be had if food is served only after the slide show, which features color images of sexually transmitted diseases such as genital warts and gonorrhea. These are proven appetite suppressants.

"We didn't ask" the Ethics Committee "for an advisory opinion on the lunch," Hart said, "but we received one."

Well, Coburn invited the ethics folks to attend. This was just a creative way to RSVP.

Next time, don't ask.

Raising Curtains and Money

The country's in a frenzy over the newest "Star Wars" film. Members of Congress naturally are always in a frenzy for campaign contributions. And campaign veteran David Bowser has merged the two phenomena into a "Star Wars: Episode III" premier weekend fundraiser tonight in Alexandria for three House Republicans.

Other politicians have similar fundraisers planned in coming weeks, we hear, but this one has "drawn tremendous response," Bowser says, likely because it's happening while other "Star Wars" fans are still braving long lines, jostling one another or getting awful seats.

The concept is simple enough. Bowser, head of Keelen Communications, rented a 400-seat auditorium at Regal Potomac Yard Cinema 16 for around $4,000, threw in a 5 p.m. reception at the nearby Don Pablo's Restaurant and is charging $250 for two tickets to individuals. He says he's not going to use the "neck-cramper" seats.

Checks go to the campaigns of GOP Reps. Chris Chocola (Ind.), Rob Simmons (Conn.) or John M. Shimkus (Ill.). Hey, it beats stale finger food, cheap white wine and rubbing elbows for hours with boring pols.

No Bush Mumble-Jumbo

The White House calls to note that President Bush , speaking at new U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman 's swearing-in on Tuesday, did not, despite what the White House transcript said, say "terrorists" instead of "tariffs." Bush got it right. White House transcribers, perhaps numbed by all the trade-speak, may have started worrying about terrorism.