Hurrah for Alhurrah

Alhurrah, the U.S.-funded Arabic-language TV channel, offers a more pro-U.S. version of the news than other Arabic channels but is having a hard time reaching many viewers because of the perception that it is American propaganda. Mouafac Harb, Alhurra's news director bristles at this claim. But as U.S. Rep. José E. Serrano (D-N.Y.) said at a hearing in April, that's exactly why Congress is funding it. "Do not tell us it's not propaganda, because if it's not propaganda, then I think ... we will have to look at what it is we are doing," Serrano said.