VZCZCXRO6994
RR RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHNEH RUEHPW RUEHSK RUEHVK
RUEHYG
DE RUEHDBU #0899/01 2081018
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 271018Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0577
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHDBU/AMEMBASSY DUSHANBE 1236

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DUSHANBE 000899 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/P GREG BEHRMAN, SCA/PPD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID OEXC OSCI PREL SCUL SOCI TNGD TSPL TI
SUBJECT: CAIRO SPEECH FOLLOW UP: CONSULTATIVE PROCESS FOR MUSLIM 
ENGAGEMENT 
 
REF: A) STATE 71325  B) DUSHANBE 724  C) DUSHANBE 831 
 
DUSHANBE 00000899  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. Summary: To share President Obama's vision of partnership and 
opportunity here in Tajikistan, we will have to overcome the 
country's extreme poverty and isolation.  While urban youth and 
educated elites were generally receptive to his June 4 speech, 
they represent a small minority of Tajiks.  Tajik imams from 
more isolated areas who had traveled to the United States on an 
International Visitor program in May, refused to come to the 
embassy to watch the speech, even though they professed 
amazement at the freedom to worship they encountered in the 
United States.  Youth in remote areas are growing up unconnected 
to the outside world, some in zones of simmering conflict 
between the government and shadowy opposition forces. 
Communicating our values to Tajiks, who do not have reliable 
electricity, much less Internet access or television, will 
require increased and sustained funding for State Department 
exchanges that bring people together, and especially English 
language programs for disadvantaged youth.  The introduction of 
a Peace Corps program in Tajikistan, matching the programs which 
have been present for many years in neighboring Central Asian 
states, would also significant boost people-to-people contacts 
in Tajikistan.  End summary. 
 
 
 
¶2. The embassy initiated the consultative process on President 
Obama's outreach to the Muslim world by inviting an audience of 
40 Tajiks to the embassy to view the President's speech live on 
June 4, then discussed first impressions (Ref b).  Younger 
audience members and those who had spent time in the United 
States said it was "a first step" that should be matched by a 
corresponding gesture from the Muslim side.  Audience members 
over 40 were skeptical and said that President Obama was keeping 
the same anti-Muslim, pro-Israel policies as President Bush. 
 
 
 
¶3. In the weeks following, embassy staff translated the speech 
into Tajik and distributed DVD and print copies in Russian and 
Tajik to media and academic contacts.  State officers and 
exchange participants discussed the speech during outreach 
events with Tajikistan's Muslims, which account for 97% of the 
population. 
 
 
 
-- An American Fulbright scholar led discussions in prayer 
centers in the Ismaili Muslim community of Khorog to discuss 
Muslim relations with the West.  She distributed copies of the 
speech in Tajik, Russian, and English to attendees at the Friday 
prayer services and engaged the attendees in debates about how 
to get beyond prejudices that distort the true beliefs of 
various faiths. 
 
 
 
-- The Information Resource Officer for South and Central Asia 
led a Web chat about the speech with youth tuned in from widely 
scattered regions of the country - Khujand, Isfara, Khatlon, 
Qurghon-Teppa, and Kulyab.  He led a separate discussion with 
university students and faculty at Qurghon-Teppa State 
University. Participants said Obama was the first U.S. President 
to speak truthfully about relations between Muslims and the West 
and it was time for this kind of gesture to Muslims worldwide. 
They said development of deeper understanding would not be easy, 
but the speech was a crucial first step.  The debate encompassed 
the sources of terrorism, the world economic crisis, and life 
and study in the U.S. 
 
 
 
-- American and Tajik counselors handed out 400 copies of the 
speech to participants at 13 USG-sponsored English language 
camps: six Access Microscholarship; four Youth Enrichment 
Program; one Global Connections and Exchanges; One American 
Corner; one Volunteer Service Organization camp for USG alumni. 
Twenty merit English teachers selected for a special mentoring 
program took copies of the speech for their school districts. 
 
 
 
¶4. We will continue disseminating the speech and IIP 
publications like "Obama in His Own Words" in high schools, 
universities, American Corners, and NGOs; hosting or sponsoring 
debates to engage Muslims at universities, American Corners, and 
NGOs; hosting "political plov" meetings with politically active 
citizens to discuss issues affecting their communities; host Web 
chats for USG-funded and other active Internet nodes. 
 
 
DUSHANBE 00000899  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
 
Scaling up Existing Programs and New Ideas 
 
 
 
¶5. To share the President's vision of partnership and 
opportunity more broadly, we will have to overcome Tajikistan's 
extreme poverty and isolation.  Only a small economic and 
political elite can depend on reliable electricity year round, 
so we will have to communicate our message through low-tech, 
people-to-people contact.  The more we can do to bring Tajiks to 
the United States, or Americans to Tajikistan, the better. 
 
 
 
¶6. The State Department has a wide variety of effective programs 
that need sustained funding.  A recent visit by Tajik imams to 
the United States (Ref b) showed that some Tajik religious 
leaders did not even know that Muslims live in the United 
States.  Even though they were impressed by the level of 
religious freedom in the United States, these same imams later 
refused to come to the embassy to view Obama's speech.  This is 
our baseline as we try to help Tajik religious leaders 
understand our values.  A second International Visitor program 
for imams will take place in May 2010.  American Islamic leaders 
could also share their experiences in visits to Tajikistan, 
through "Citizen Dialogues" or IIP Speaker programs.  They could 
talk about Muslim life and religious freedom in America at 
universities, American Corners, and madrassas in Dushanbe, 
Khujand, and other cities. 
 
 
 
¶7. One program that should be expanded and connected to 
follow-up programs is the Youth Enrichment Program (YEP) summer 
camps to communicate American values directly to marginalized 
youth.  The first four YEP camps started in Tajikistan in 2008 
and were hugely popular - in the conservative Isfara district, 
2,600 families applied for 100 spaces.  This summer, in addition 
to the four YEP camps in Isfara and in the former stronghold of 
the Islamist opposition in the Rasht Valley, other USG partners 
organized nine more near Dushanbe.  The Rasht camps were located 
across a mountain pass from an area where government forces are 
currently battling militants.  The camps' junior high age 
participants had no sense of geography, had never met an 
American, and many had never celebrated their own birthdays. 
They played T-ball for the first time at the camp - with the 
rule that the girls HAD to bat or their team would forfeit the 
game. 
 
 
 
English Language the Key to Communicating Our Message 
 
 
 
¶8. Such children are at risk of being recruited for any future 
conflicts, growing up completely shut off from the outside 
world.  A week-long camp ultimately is unlikely to change any 
hearts or minds.  If we are serious about communicating with the 
Muslim world, we must invest in English language training.  The 
YEP camps could be formally linked to English language programs, 
like the two-year after-school Access Microscholarships. 
Besides language skills, English courses pass along our values 
and basic education in social sciences and geography.  This 
requires more funding for the Access program, more English 
Language Officers at embassies, more contract English Language 
Specialists and English Language Fellows who train local 
teachers. 
 
 
 
¶9. Finally, a Peace Corps program in Tajikistan would be a major 
addition to our outreach efforts.  It would place dynamic, 
self-reliant Americans into daily contact with Tajiks in rural 
and urban areas, improving the English skills of Tajiks and the 
Farsi skills of Americans.  Peace Corps operates in the other 
post-Soviet Central Asian states, but did not come to Tajikistan 
in the 1990s due to the civil war here, and later did not come 
because of financial constraints.  The Peace Corps belongs in 
Tajikistan, and would give a strong push to our efforts to 
change attitudes toward the United States. 
QUAST