Propoganda

Why does our government think that through propaganda we will achieve our objectives around the world and make us all safe and sound?
We find out that Iraqi newspapers and clerics are being paid to spread our propaganda. Now that the reality of it all has become common knowledge, why would any Iraqi believe anything that comes from the United States? Whatever happened to simply speaking the truth and reporting events? Whatever happened to protecting the sense of trust and honesty as a hallmark of the United States? If what we are and what we represent to the world, if our arguments and objectives cannot be secured through open, honest, and sincere persuasion, then what is it all worth? Why bother?
Yes, yes, I know that there are people and organizations, even nations, who have no interest in mutual respect and who will do all they can to destroy us and our way of life (really, what about our way of life should be preserved?). I realize that we have to meet these people who force from time-to-time. Yet, if our policies and our efforts (our propaganda) does nothing but encourage more and more people to join the radical groups and devote their very lives to our destruction, perhaps we need to step back and question whether we should continue to follow these policies! Perhaps!?
We have the opportunity to truly “export” the best sense of what the American experiment has to offer. Freedom, self-determination, the rule of law, respect for one another, etc. We have the opportunity to present to the world a way of life and living that will inspire the best within all of us. This great experiment in democracy is not yet over, and the ideals of our Founders have not yet proven to withstand the test of time and our own purulent interests. There have been times in our history when we have been at our best. For a good part of our history, regrettably, and especially since the Cold War against the Soviets, we have been more in the mode of manipulation, arrogant self-interest, and propaganda.
As one who professes to be a follower of Christ, I must continue to call for and demand that we as a nation and as a culture are honest and forthright, admitting our mistakes, and presenting our objectives in a sense of respect and common interest. If the world does not agree with us or buy our arguments, perhaps we simply need to do a better job or examine if, gasp, we might be wrong. If we think we are right, then we can still pursue our own interests without the destructive forces of deception, manipulation, and corruption of others. Doing otherwise will be a rebuke and rebuff of our Founding Fathers, the subversion and destruction of what we actually claim to be protecting, and the corruption of the very perception of ourselves we like to believe we truly are.