We'll confess to being a little torn about this story.

Hezbollah chief Sheikh Nassan Nasrallah is the most admired leader in the Arab world, according to a poll released recently by the Anwar Sadat Chair for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland. Nasrallah seems to be gaining in popularity, with some 26 percent of respondents voicing support for him. Syrian President Bashar Assad also won an increase in popularity, according to the poll.

On one hand we want to use it to explain how the State Department's Lebanon II strategy - pulling the rug out from Israel's feet militarily and diplomaticly - ended with a new round of genocidal fantasizing in the Arab world. Except this time it's Nasrallah filling in for Nasser and Assad as the designated glorious genocider-in-chief.

But that might distract you from how the State Department's public diplomacy efforts - which are supposed to sway Arab hearts and minds away from ostensibly outdated concepts like "killing all the Jews would be pretty awesome" - quite literally broadcast Hezbollah propaganda:

During the March 21 House Foreign Operations Appropriations subcommittee hearing, Rep. Mark Kirk (R., Ill.) pressed Ms. Rice on the wisdom of providing a platform to Islamic terrorists, citing Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah's Dec. 7 speech, which Al-Hurra aired live. The broadcast speech "went on for 30 minutes," she responded, "followed by commentary, much of which was critical of Nasrallah."... The problem with American public diplomacy is that there's too much distrust in the Arab world. when we say that we're kind of well-meaning and that we'd like to live in peace with them, they simply don't believe us. So we suppose that Al-Hurra should be congratulated for finally finding fare that the Muslim world finds palatable. Minus the whole "vicious anti-Israel incitement" part. That part seems less optimism-inducing.

The mind boggling incompetence of Middle East diplomacy - a hodgepodge of career academics, washed out intel analysts, and lifetime bureaucrats who seemingly alternate between broadcasting Hezbollah propaganda in the Middle East and passing it off as "expert opinion" in the US - is sometimes genuinely impressive.

References:
* Survey: Nasrallah is the most admired leader in the Arab world [Ha'aretz]
* Hezbollah's New Museum Is Breathtakingly Ungrateful For Massive US Help During Lebanon II [MR]
* Confirmed: Rice Went Out Of Her Way To Screw Israel On Lebanon II [MR]
* Obligatory Post About Iran's "Hezbollah Radiation Will Destroy Israel" Threat (Plus: Mugniyah Assassination Dramatically Demonstrates Absurdity Of Liberal Foreign Policy Sophistication) [MR]

Previously:
* State Department Anti-Israel Ideology Gets Silly, Kills Americans
* State Department Gets Bright Idea: Let's Screw Israel Even More By Bundling Syria Into The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process
* State Department Tries To Cleanse Obviously Illegal "No Jews Allowed" Application But Is Too Fucking Stupid To Turn Off Track Changes