6/12/06

Coleen Graffy
Office of Press And Public Diplomacy
(202) 647-5116 (Fax)

Dear Ms. Graffy:

I just read on the Reuters wire the following:

SUICIDES PROMPT NEW CALLS TO SHUT GUANTANAMO  -  REUTERS

"Colleen Graffy, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for public diplomacy, told the BBC World Service the suicides were a "good PR move to draw attention."

"It does sound that this is part of a strategy in that they don't value their own life and they certainly don't value ours and they use suicide bombings as a tactic to further their Jihadi cause," she said.

Graffy coordinates efforts with Karen Hughes, a former top aide to President George W. Bush who is now a special envoy charged with trying to improve the U.S. image abroad, especially in Islamic countries."

Boy!  These guys sure know how to hit us below the belt with these sneaky synchronized suicides (what the U.S. military calls 'asymmetrical warfare.') The U.S. media is implying it's a terrorist act!

You just can't make this stuff up, Ms. Graffy - I'm referring to your statement that suicide of these prisoners was a kind of PR stunt. The actual PR stunt, ironically, is your amazingly absurd spin on the deaths.  Do you believe that your statement aids the U.S. image abroad?  Do you seriously believe that people in the Islamic world could give credence to the notion that the prisoners don't believe in a value of life principle, but the U.S. does?  Don' t you see, that's not a good point to raise with the Islamic world when the U.S. tortures and has killed at least 30,000 Iraqis members of the Islamic faith since the invasion?  Why would you even think of bringing that issue up? 

What did they teach you in law school?  Never try to value jump an opponent when you are so vulnerable on that values issue in the eyes of the audience you're trying to convince. 

No doubt, some prisoners are moral monsters but that isn't the point at issue.  No doubt the terrorists are despicable but that isn't the point at issue either.  You are supposed to be doing PR for the U.S., convincing the people in the jury that is the Islamic world that we're the "good guys."

How about something along the lines of "We value all human lives, including the lives of those who so tragically hanged themselves.  The authorities at Guantanamo have assured me that they are doing everything possible to prevent such deaths in the future." Wouldn't something like this have played better in the Islamic world?


Sincerely,

Keith F. Shirey