The United States has unleashed a new weapon in its battle to counter arguments from Osama bin Laden and the Taliban that its war on terrorism is not a crusade against Islam, officials have said.
The weapon -- Christopher Ross, a retired US diplomat fluent in Arabic -- made his debut over the weekend, appearing live on Al-Jazeera TV to rebut a lengthy anti-American and anti-UN speech aired by the Qatar-based network Saturday.
White House and state department spokesmen crowed over Ross' appearance, mentioning four times that the former US envoy to Syria had spoken in fluent Arabic And twice that he had done so within hours of network's bin Laden broadcast.

Tipped that a new bin Laden tape would be shown on Al-Jazeera and anxious stem what has been perceived as the loss of the public relations battle as airstrikes against Afghanistan continue, US officials prepped Ross on what to say before he went on the air from Washington, they said.

Bureau Report