Hughes intent on improving U.S. image in the Muslim world

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Hughes intent on improving U.S. image in the Muslim world


WASHINGTON - Karen Hughes says that when she agreed earlier this year to become America's point person on public diplomacy, with a special emphasis on reaching out to Muslims, she read every report on the subject she could find.

"One of the things that came through (was) that America is perceived as talking at people rather than listening to them," she said in an interview with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch in her suite of offices at the State Department, where she now serves as undersecretary for public affairs and public diplomacy.

"And so I felt it was important early in my tenure here for me to travel and reach out and listen to people - both for me to be able to hear and learn and understand better, but also to show a willingness for America to listen."

Critics say that's precisely what she hasn't done.

They say Hughes is still in spin mode, deploying the media skills that served President George W. Bush so well in her years as his communications director but that are more problematic when it comes to frictions over the U.S. war on terrorism and its role in the Middle East.