Pop-aganda: a question for Karen Hughes: why is the administration peddling the kind of schlock to the Arab world that it's always denouncing at home?(DISPATCHES)

IN EARLY MARCH, GEORGE W. BUSH named his longtime adviser Karen Hughes the administration's undersecretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs. Apparently, it's a woman's job: She was the third to be named to that post since September 11. At her confirmation hearing, she spoke in familiar terms about the daunting task of repairing America's image in the world, and chose, like the women who preceded her, to emphasize the need to reinvigorate public diplomacy.

Her predecessors made little progress. Madison Avenue public-relations executive Charlotte Beers, appointed ...

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