"America's negative image in world opinion and diminished ability to persuade are consequences of factors other than the failure to implement communications strategies," the report by the Defense Science Board said.

"Succeeding in this struggle requires leadership from the President on down," it stressed.

The report which was copied to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, was presented on September 23, but has just been released publicly.

"Interests collide. Leadership counts. Policies matter. Mistakes dismay our friends and provide enemies with unintentional assistance. Strategic communication is not the problem, but it is a problem," it said.

The 102-page report calls for a major overhaul in how the US government communicates its policies, including the creation of a "strategic communication structure" inside the White House's National Security Council.

The report also said the US government had failed to adapt its Cold War communications strategy to deal with the threat of Islamic extremism.

"In stark contrast to the Cold War, the United States today is not seeking to contain a threatening state empire, but rather seeking to convert a broad movement within Islamic civilization to accept the value structure of Western Modernity -- an agenda hidden within the official rubric of a 'war on terrorism,'" it said.

"Today we reflexively compare Muslim 'masses' to those oppressed under Soviet rule.

"This is a strategic mistake. There is no yearning-to-be-liberated-by-the-US groundswell among Muslim societies -- except to be liberated perhaps from what they see as apostate tyrannies that the US so determinedly promotes and defends."

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