TWO DISCOURAGING ARTICLES RE THE UNITED STATES

The Washington Post this morning had two articles that I find discouraging about the use of knowledge in the United States.

Dana Milbank in an article titled “White House Fires Back at O'Neill on Iraq” says:
“Comparing his time in the Bush administration and his stint in the federal government in the 1970s, O'Neill said: ‘The biggest difference between then and now is that our group was mostly about evidence and analysis, and Karl [Rove], Dick [Cheney], [Bush communications strategist] Karen [Hughes] and the gang seemed to be mostly about politics.’”

By Michael Dobbs’ article, “Middle East Studies Under Scrutiny in U.S.” looks at Campus Watch, a project of Middle East Forum, that is seeking to influence the balance of teaching in the United States on the Middle East. The points out that funding for area studies programs in the United States was cut at the end of the cold war, and it was only after 9/11 that funding for Middle East studies programs was again increased. Daniel Pipes, who appears to be influential in Bush Administration foreign policy, is the Director of the Forum. The article implies that he and his organization are seeking not to assure that a variety of positions are defended in public discourse, but to assure that government funds only go to those who support the position shared by the government.