U.S. Iraqi military strategy aids radicals, critique says

WASHINGTON — The United States should rely more on indirect propaganda and allies in the Middle East, because the current military strategy is only helping radical Muslims, according to a West Point critique of U.S. terror policy.

"Direct engagement with the United States has been good for the jihadi movement," said the report by the Combating Terrorism Center at the U.S. military academy. The United States needs to emphasize indirect action more skillfully and extensively, the report said.

Last year, the U.S. Special Operations Command issued $300 million in contracts for three companies to spread pro-American messages without revealing the U.S. connections.

However, the bulk of Pentagon spending goes to military operations in Iraq.

U.S. military action, it says, "rallies the locals behind the movement, drains the United States of resources and puts pressure" on U.S.-backed regimes.

Though not an official U.S. military document, its authors, Jarret Brachman and William McCants, regularly brief top Pentagon officials.

The unpublished study, which was finished Monday, is meant to help better understand the enemy, Brachman said in an interview.

Retired Gen. Wayne Downing, the center's chairman and a former head of Special Operations Command, is in a position to make the study's suggestions policy. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has sent him back to Special Operations Command to recommend ways to improve its work in the war on terror.

The report has circulated widely among U.S. military and intelligence officials. Lt. Col. Diane Battaglia, spokeswoman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said top officials weren't prepared to comment on its details.