How Do They See Us Now?

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But if the intellectuals have paused to soul search, surely the Arab masses are still shouting out there on that fabled Arab street? Not quite. Last month, former U.S. ambassador to Israel and current Brookings Institution senior fellow Martin Indyk declared that "the Arab street has, for all intents and purposes, been quiet." His office has tallied the number of demonstrations in the Arab world since the U.S. began bombing Afghanistan; there were nine that first week and only a few afterward. That maddened street now seems more like an overgrown footpath.

To be sure, these shifts in the Muslim media and public opinion have been subtle. Even with many Afghans rejoicing in recent weeks, "there is no love affair with the U.S.," says Fawaz Gerges, author of America and Political Islam. "Suspicion still runs very deep in most Arab countries about America's war aims." Many Muslim commentators are still exercised about U.S. policy toward Israel and its Arab neighbors. "If the U.S. decides to go after other Arab or Muslim countries," Gerges predicts, "there will be a major outcry." Despite the recent calm, in other words, the U.S. still has a long way to go in the propaganda war.