The chief communications officer (CCO) is a job title for the head of communications, public relations, and/or public affairs within an organization. Often, the CCO reports to the chief executive officer (CEO) of a corporate entity.

Role[link]

The CCO of a company is the corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the communications risks and opportunities of a business, both internally and externally. This executive is typically responsible for communications to a wide range of stakeholders, including but not limited to employees, shareholders, media, bloggers, influential members of the business community, the press, the community and the public. Typically, the CCO may partner with others in the organization to communicate with investors, analysts, customers and company Board members. Most organizations will rely on the CCO to advise and participate in decisions that may impact the ongoing reputation of the firm.

The Chief Communications Officer role is further defined by the Arthur Page Society. This study indicates the importance in the role especially as a key advisor to the CEO. In addition to the Chief Communications Officer title, comparable titles include Vice President of Corporate Communications, Vice President of Public Affairs or Public Information Officer in governmental organizations.^[1]

Qualifications[link]

Qualifications of the CCO typically include communications experience with multiple stakeholder groups. Early experience may include journalism, work in a public relations agency or an MBA-type background in strategy or business development. In many cases, the CCO will need to assume responsibility for plans and outcomes that are the result of actions by persons throughout the organization. Korn/Ferry’s Corporate Affairs Center of Expertise^[2] conducted a study of CCOs at 67 Fortune 200 companies in order to develop a current profile of the individuals who run the communications function at major global organizations. The survey reviewed how these executives are compensated, the size and scope of their responsibility and where they reside organizationally.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Korn/Ferry Study (2009)

The Central Communications Command (CCC, also known as Metcall) is the largest Operational Command Unit OCU of London's Metropolitan Police Service. It sits within Territorial Policing, the business group within the Met that is responsible for Borough Policing and public contact. It is responsible for receiving emergency and non-emergency public telephony within the Metropolitan Police and between the police and the public & other forces, taking over from a number of smaller communications rooms scattered throughout the service. The "C3i programme", intended to modernise command and control and combine the MPS's communications into a single department was led by Sir Ian Blair prior to his promotion to Commissioner; the transition to the new system began in 2004 and was completed in December 2007. The OCU was intended to be known as "Metcall", selected by an internal staff competition, but this name is the registered property of the UK Meteorological Office. There are three main command-and-control at Hendon, Bow and Lambeth.

Previous command and control system[link]

Historically, each of the Met's Borough Operational Command Units (BOCUs) had its own control room, known internally as the 'CAD Room' (for Computer Assisted Despatch) which dealt with incoming non-emergency telephone calls and with despatching police officers to all calls in that area. In addition Information Room at New Scotland Yard received 999 calls which were sent to the CAD Room to be dealt with. In 2004 staff began to migrate on a borough-by-borough basis to Metcall, with Southwark being the first BOCU to move.

The C3i programme[link]

Led by DAC Ron McPherson and Dr Amanat Hussain, the C3i programme (Communication, Command, Control & Information) was the largest police transformation programme undertaken in the UK. The programme modernised the command and control infrastructure to create seamless communications service for the Metropolitan Police Service to give the people of London a robust and resilient response policing service, getting the right people in the right place at the right time with the right information. The C3i Programme delivered optimised end to end Command and Control processes, new operational command unit (Central Communications Command), new Casualty Bureau Facility, largest Special Operations Room, Integrated Borough Operations Rooms and Telephone Investigation Bureaus services.

Despite criticisms of public sector programme, the MPS successfully delivered a complex organisation transformation programme. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) in their final report said that “C3i has been well managed and has been delivered to time and to budget programme” and went on to commend the senior programme management team of having “done an excellent job, particularly as the implementation has been into a live operational environment”.

"C3i Communications". Metropolitan Police Service. Archived from the original on July 18, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070718034433/http://www.met.police.uk/c3i/communication/index.html. Retrieved 2007-04-13. </ref>.

New command and control system[link]

One of the three CCC centres. Note the array of Airwave antennae on the roof.

Following completion of the C3i programme in late 2007, all Met communications are dealt with at three dedicated centres at Hendon, Bow and Lambeth, covering west; north and east; and south London respectively.^[1] Within each centre is a call receipt facility, called First Contact and a dispatching facility called Dispatch. In First Contact call takers sit in pods of twelve positions, each pod having its own supervisor. Dispatching pods have two or three dispatcher and one supervisor position. The size of the dispatching pod depends on how busy the borough that it supports is. Patrol officers are dispatched through the Airwave radios and by sending information direct to the MDT terminal in every police vehicle.

Call handling[link]

Any caller calling police will be passed to a First Contact operator. If the call needs to be recorded by the police, a record is made on the Contact Handling System, a tailored iteration of the AIT Portrait CRM product. If an officer needs to be dispatched, this record is passed into the Computer Aided Despatch (CAD) application, and a CAD record will be created.^[2]

Graded response[link]

Once the initial information has been inputted, the CAD will be allocated a grade of urgency. All calls are given one of five grades:

• I grade ("immediate response") — calls which in the operator's opinion constitute a genuine emergency. The target response time for all "I" graded calls is within 12 minutes, and in any event to be attended as soon as possible.
• S grade ("significant priority") — these are calls which, in the operator's opinion, do not constitute a genuine emergency but nonetheless need to be attended as soon as possible. To preserve forensic opportunities or to maintain public confidence "S" grade calls must be answered within 60 minutes. All "S" graded calls are intended to be attended within one hour; however, in practice many of these calls are ignored for some time due to pressure on resources caused by "I" graded calls.
• E grade ("extended time") — these are calls which in the operator's opinion require attendance, but for various reasons do not require a response target time. The grade is most frequently used when the caller has indicated that they are unavailable and an agreement is made to attend at a later date.
• R grade (referred) — all calls which in the operator's opinion do not require any response; mainly either calls where the operator has offered advice and this has resolved the problem, or duplicate calls to incidents of which the police are already aware and dealing.^[2]

Once the CAD report has been created, it is passed to the relevant Dispatch for the borough in question to decide what officers to deploy to it. The Supervisor (see below) can change the grading of the call if necessary, but only in exceptional circumstances.

During the programme transition there were a number of challenges with late technology and the preparedness of staff to work in the new environment, and not all performance targets were met. As the new OCU bedded down, performance consolidated and the command now achieves all of the national call handling targets set by the Home Office through the HMIC and NPIA.

Integrated Borough Operations[link]

As the Despatch operators within the Metcall centres are drawn from across London and no longer tied to a particular London Borough, they no longer have local knowledge which may assist in deciding how best to respond to the CADs when they are passed through. As a result of this, each borough now has an Integrated Borough Operations (IBO) department, made up of a team of police officers (generally five at any given time). When the CAD incident is passed to Despatch, it is simultaneously passed to the relevant IBO. The IBO will read it and compare it to existing police records, to decide whether there is any additional information which will need to be taken.^[3]

The introduction of IBOs has proven exceedingly controversial. One of the primary aims of the C3i programme was and is to reduce the number of police officers currently serving in the communications environment, allowing them to return to active duties. However, the introduction of IBOs has meant that 450 police officers have had to be removed from active duties to staff the IBOs.^[4] It has been proposed to allow Police Community Support Officers to work in the IBO, allowing police officers to return to active duties,^[4] but thus far the proposal has not been implemented. Recently TP have published staffing guidelines abandoning the original goal of civilianisation with a 8:4 ratio of Police Officers to Staff. The reason for this is at present unclear however it has had the effect of closing an escape route for CCC staff.

Contact Handling System[link]

The Contact Handling System (CHS) is a software application intended to provide more information to call handlers when taking emergency calls.

CHS differs from the older CAD system and from systems used by other emergency services worldwide in that far more information can be input into the system by the CAD Operator and the information can be retrieved and sorted more easily. However, it has proven unpopular thus far with CAD Operators and Police Officers; operators consider it unnecessarily complicated to use, and police find CHS-derived information difficult to interpret, particularly via MDT terminal.

It was intended that CHS be brought into place upon each OCU/BOCU's transfer to the Central Communications Command. However, the system proved unstable and incapable of dealing with high call volumes and the old CAD system was kept in place.^[5] It is now intended that the two systems run in parallel until 2012.^[6]

Criticism of the new 'CHS' system[link]

Central Communications Command hit the headlines in 2006, when Peter Smyth, a spokesman for the Police Federation condemned the Contact Handling System by describing it as "at best unreliable, and that's if it works at all". He added that "Metcall will have taken 900 officers off the beat by the end of next year, and meanwhile, an ever-growing army of community support officers who walk around like gaggles of lost shoppers have been recruited to take the places of these experienced officers in the streets".^[7]

Controversy over racial imbalance and recruitment targets[link]

Approximately 10% of staff at the centres are Police Officers, while the remainder are civilian staff. Central Communications Command staff, particularly at supervisor level and above, are disproportionately white. Although positive discrimination on grounds of race or gender is illegal in the UK,^[8] the Central Communications Command nonetheless uses targets for recruitment, leading to some controversy. In 2006 the targets for new recruitment for civilian staff were 21% non-white and 50% female (civilian), and 7% non-white and 22.5% female (police officers).^[9] The recruitment targets of 21% & 7% are still well below the 29% of London residents classing themselves as non-white in the 2001 census.^[10]

Press reaction to CCC and the C3i programme[link]

The local press in London, particularly the Evening Standard, has generally been very critical of Metcall, often citing concerns about the perceived increase in the time taken to answer telephone calls and to deploy police officers to incidents.^[11][12] A number of local newspapers have also raised concerns about the loss of local knowledge due to operators no longer dealing only with a single small area.^[13] It is hoped by MPS management that, following the completion of the transition to the Metcall centres and a subsequent stabilisation of staff turnover rates, any shortcomings will cease to be an issue and more efficient staff working will free up those police officers currently at CCC to return to an operational role, further improving the MPS's efficiency.^[14]

Staff structure[link]

Central Communications Command is unique within the Metropolitan Police in its staff structure. It is both the largest Operational Command Unit and the only one whose operational roles are primarily staffed by civilian staff. Consequently, it has a different structure to all other branches of the MPS.

Duty Officers[link]

Each of the three Metcall centres has two Duty Officers on duty at any given time (making a total of six on duty across the three centres). One of the Duty Officers is always a serving Inspector, whilst the other is always an experienced member of the civilian staff. The Duty Officers bear ultimate responsibility for decisions taken within the centre, and are also responsible for staff welfare within their centre.^[15]

CAD Supervisors[link]

Each "pod" - generally covering between two to four Operational Command Units - has two CAD Supervisors. Their role is to oversee the Operators, to take control of particularly difficult situations, and to have final say over when an incident can be 'closed'. In addition, one or two Supervisors will oversee the First Contact process (see above), ensuring calls are dealt with correctly.^[16] The role of Supervisor is filled either by a Sergeant or by an experienced member of the civilian staff.

Supervisors are commonly (but incorrectly) referred to as "Controllers"; the post of Controller was a historic post prior to the introduction of the C3i programme, and was responsible for the supervision and staff welfare of CAD Operators on a particular borough. On transition to Metcall centres, the majority of Controllers became Supervisors at Central Communications Command.

CAD Operators (Communications Officers)[link]

CAD Operators (also known as Communications Officer or Civilian Communications Officer) make up the majority of operational CCC staff. Most are civilian, although some posts are filled by Police Officers on secondment due to staff shortages. It was intended that by the end of 2007 the position would be entirely civilianised.

Job role[link]

CAD Operators perform two functions. In the First Contact (FC) role (also known as call receipt), they answer 999 and non-emergency telephone calls to police and enter the details of the call onto the MPS computer system. In the Despatch role they read the details of the calls as entered by First Contact, decide on the appropriate action to take, and, when police deployment is necessary, assign police officers using Airwave radios or by sending information directly to the MDT terminal of police vehicles. Most CAD Operators rotate between the two roles, but some are dedicated to one or the other.^[17]

The title "CAD Operator" comes from the Computer Assisted Despatch program that the MPS has used since 1984; while this system is still in use, it is gradually being superseded by the new Contact Handling System application.

Location[link]

On the introduction of the CAD system in 1984, each OCU and BOCU had its own team of CAD Operators based at a local police station. Staffing levels varied, but a typical busy station consisted of five to seven on-duty operators split between the First Contact and Despatch positions, plus a "Controller" with overall responsibility. An additional bank of operators, known as the Information Room, was based at New Scotland Yard and handled 999 calls and major incidents.

In 2004, local CAD Operators began to transfer to the new Metcall centres; the transfer was completed in December 2007.^[1]

Operator numbers[link]

There are just over 2,000 CAD Operator positions within the MPS, and approximately 400-500 theoretically on duty at any given time. Due to staffing issues stemming from the transfer to the Metcall centres, the numbers are currently much lower,^[18] and a number of police officers have been seconded to Central Communications Command to fill vacancies; this removal of officers from active duties led to some controversy. The Metropolitan Police Authority intends to eventually have all CAD Operator positions filled by civilians, allowing police officers to return to active duties.^[14]

Staff shortages[link]

When the C3i program began to be implemented in 2004, it was extremely controversial both within and outside the Met. A number of staff were reluctant to relocate to the new centres, and were also concerned about the substantial changes to their job role. Due to concerns about large numbers of potential staff shortages, the controversial 'Career Management' scheme was introduced; this meant that for some time prior to the introduction of Central Communications Command all staff currently working in CAD Rooms were barred from transferring to any other department within the MPS.^[18] Despite this, a number of existing staff resigned from the service altogether rather than transfer and serving officers are reluctant to transfer to Central Communications Command due to concerns they may not be released for some time.

See also[link]

• Central Operations
• FiReControl
• FireLink
• Gold Silver Bronze command structure
• The Job (police newspaper)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Photograph of MPS Traffic Control showing a typical CAD environment

v t e Metropolitan Police Service Specialist Crime & Operations Emergency Preparedness OCU · Public Order OCU · Specialist Firearms Command · Traffic OCU · Traffic Criminal Justice Unit · Territorial Support Group Covert policing · Economic and Specialist Crime · Forensic Services · Homicide and Serious Crime Command (Murder Investigation Teams) · Human Exploitation and Organised Crime Command · Operations Trident and Trafalgar · Serious and Organised Crime Group (Flying Squad) Operational Support Unit Air Support Unit · Dog Support Unit · Marine Policing Unit · Mounted Branch Specialist Operations Counter Terrorism Command · Protection Command (Diplomatic Protection Group · Special Escort Group) · Protective Security Command (Aviation Security OCU · Palace of Westminster Division) Territorial policing Central Communications Command · Royal Parks Operational Command Unit · Safer Transport Command History · Commissioner · Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime · Mayor of London · Metropolitan Police District · Metropolitan Police F.C. · Metropolitan Special Constabulary · New Scotland Yard · Organisation and structure · The Job

Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates at the World Economic Forum in 2011
Born	Melinda Ann French (1964-08-15) August 15, 1964 (age 47) Dallas, Texas, U.S.
Residence	Medina, Washington, U.S.
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Duke University
Occupation	Co-Chair, operator of Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Religion	Roman Catholic
Spouse	Bill Gates (m. 1994) «start: (1994)»"Marriage: Bill Gates to Melinda Gates" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Melinda_Gates)
Children	Jennifer Katharine Gates - (b. 1996) Rory John Gates - (b. 1999) Phoebe Adele Gates - (b. 2002)
Website
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Home Page

Melinda French Gates (born Melinda Ann French; August 15, 1964)^[1] is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the wife of Bill Gates. She is the co-founder and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and a former unit manager for several Microsoft products such as Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Encarta, and Expedia.

Personal life[link]

Melinda and Bill Gates in June 2009.

Melinda was born in Dallas, Texas. She was the second of four children born to Raymond Joseph French, Jr., an engineer, and Elaine Agnes Amerland, a homemaker. She has an older sister and two younger brothers.^[2] Gates, a Roman Catholic, attended St. Monica Catholic School,^[3][4] where she was the top student in her class year. She graduated as valedictorian from Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 1982. Gates earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1987.

Shortly thereafter, she joined Microsoft and participated in the development of many of Microsoft’s multimedia products including Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Encarta, and Expedia.^[5]

In 1994, she married Bill Gates in a private ceremony held in Lanai, Hawaii. Shortly thereafter, she left Microsoft to focus on starting and raising her family. Her last position was Microsoft’s General Manager of Information Products. Melinda and Bill Gates have three children: daughters Jennifer Katharine Gates (born 1996) and Phoebe Adele Gates (born 2002), and son Rory John Gates (born 1999).

Melinda served as a member of Duke University's board of trustees from 1996 to 2003.^[6] Gates attends Bilderberg Group conferences and holds a seat on the board of directors of the Washington Post company.^[7] She retired from the board of Drugstore.com in August 2006 to spend more time working for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.^[8]

As of 2009, Melinda and Bill Gates have donated more than US$24 billion to the Foundation.^[9]

Awards and recognition[link]

In December 2005, Melinda and Bill Gates were named by Time as Persons of the Year alongside Bono. Melinda and Bill Gates received the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on May 4, 2006 in recognition of their world impact through charitable giving.^[10] In November 2006, Melinda and Bill Gates were awarded the Order of the Aztec Eagle for their philanthropic work around the world in the areas of health and education, particularly in Mexico, and specifically in the program "Un país de lectores".

She was ranked #40 in Forbes 2008 list of the 100 Most Powerful Women,^[11] #24 in 2007,^[12] and #12 in 2006.^[13]

On June 12, 2009, Melinda and Bill Gates received honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge. Their benefaction of $210 million in 2000 set up the Gates Cambridge Trust, which funds postgraduate scholars from outside the UK to study at the University.

Melinda has also donated over 10 million dollars to her high school Ursuline Academy of Dallas. She is one of the major donors of their Facing the Future Campaign and was honored in their dedication ceremony on May 7, 2010.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Melinda Gates

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
• Appearances on C-SPAN
• Melinda Gates on Charlie Rose
• Melinda Gates at TED Conferences
• Melinda Gates at the Internet Movie Database
• Melinda Gates at the Notable Names Database
• Melinda Gates collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Melinda Gates in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Melinda Gates Goes Public, Fortune magazine, January 4, 2008

Linton Johnson III (born June 13, 1980 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American professional basketball player who is currently playing in Italy for Air Avellino.

After a four-year college career at Tulane University,^[1] he began his professional career in 2003–04 as an undrafted^[1] free agent playing 41 games including 20 starts for the Chicago Bulls. He also played for the Phoenix Suns, San Antonio Spurs, New Jersey Nets, New Orleans Hornets and the Phoenix Suns, with whom he signed a 10-day contract late in the 2007–08 season.^[2] The Suns did not renew his contract, and on March 27, 2008, Johnson signed another 10-day contract with the Toronto Raptors.^[1] After the contract expired, Johnson re-signed with the Suns on April 16, 2008.

Linton Johnson is the nephew of former NBA player Mickey Johnson.^[3]

On March 11, 2009, Johnson was signed to the first of two 10-day contracts by the Chicago Bulls. It was his second stint with the Bulls.^[4] He was signed for the remainder of the season after initially being released when his second 10-day contract expired. He was waived on July 30, 2009.

In September 2009, Johnson signed with the Orlando Magic.^[5] He was waived on October 28, 2009.^[6][7]

In August 2010 he signed with the Italian pro team Air Avellino.^[8]

NBA career statistics[link]

Regular season[link]

Playoffs[link]

Notes[link]

1. ^ ^{a b c} Raptors sign forward Linton Johnson to 10-day contract
2. ^ Suns Notebook: Suns Can't Swing Deal at Deadline; Sign Free Agent Johnson^{[dead link]}
3. ^ HORNETS: Behind the Numbers: Linton Johnson
4. ^ Bulls bring back Johnson; forward on 10-day contract
5. ^ Magic Sign Almond, Johnson; Prepare for Camp
6. ^ Magic waive Johnson, have only 11 players for opener
7. ^ Magic waive reserve Johnson, trim roster to 13". USA Today. October 28, 2009. Retrieved on October 28, 2009.
8. ^ Air Avellino signs Linton Johnson

External links[link]

• Career Stats at Basketball-Reference.com
• NBA.com Playerfile
• ACB.com Profile

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Ali Al-Ahmed (Arabic: علي آل أحمد‎; born 1966) is a Saudi scholar and expert on Saudi political affairs including: terrorism, Islamic movements, Wahhabi Islam, Saudi political history, Saudi-American relations, and the history of the Al-Saud family. He is the founder and director of the Institute for Gulf Affairs (formerly the Saudi Institute), an independent think tank in Washington, D.C. focused on providing analyses and disseminating information on political issues in the Gulf region and particularly Saudi Arabia, and U.S.-Gulf relations.^[1] IGA also convenes conferences, conducts independent research^{[citation needed]} and investigations, and works with the media and policymakers to fosters a deeper understanding of the Gulf countries by providing them with up-to-date and exclusive information and connecting them with reliable analysts.

He has been invited to speak by Princeton University, Amnesty International, the Hudson Institute, American Enterprise Institute and Meridian International Center.

As a journalist, Al-Ahmed exposed major news stories such as The Pentagon's botched translation of the 9-11 Bin Laden tape in December 2001. He also discovered the video of Daniel Pearl's murder.

He has testified before Congress on several occasions on the issue of civil rights and religious freedom in the Middle East.^[2][3]

He has authored reports on Saudi Arabia regarding religious freedom, torture, press freedom, and religious curriculum.^[4]

Family and Early Years[link]

One of nine children, Al-Ahmed was born in 1966 in al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, to a politically active Shi’a family. His maternal grandfather, Salman Abdul Hadi Al-Habib, was the ZABAL Safwa in the early to mid twentieth century until his death. His oldest uncle Ali Salman was arrested for his nationalist opposition activities in 1969-1975, and his youngest uncle Adil Salman was imprisoned for 18 months in 1991 for membership in the Socialist Workers Party.

Al-Ahmed grew up in the Eastern Province city of Safwa. His political career began at the age of 14 when he became the Kingdom's youngest political prisoner, after he was arrested in Doha, Qatar and deported to Saudi Arabia while traveling with his parents and six siblings in 1981. Ten years later, he moved to the United States to earn a B.A. in Journalism and Science at Winona State University in Minnesota and a M.A. in International Finance at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN

Media and Speaking Appearances[link]

Al-Ahmed is a frequent consultant to major international broadcast media on issues including Saudi political affairs, terrorism, Sunni-Shi’a relations, Wahhabi Islam, political and religious oppression, human and women’s rights in Saudi Arabia, and the Saudi-U.S. relationship. He is a regular guest on CBS News, CNN, PBS, Fox News, and Al-Jazeera. He has written for, and has been quoted in, the Washington Post, Associated Press, The Times, Reuters, the Wall Street Journal, USA Today and the Boston Globe, amongst others.

Al-Ahmed has been invited to speak at Princeton University, Amnesty International, the Hudson Institute, American Enterprise Institute and the Meridian International Center. He has testified before Congress on several occasions on the issue of civil rights and religious freedom in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia.[3][4].

Notable Achievements[link]

Bin Laden 9/11 Tape Discovery[link]

After conducting an analysis of the Osama bin Laden videotape claiming responsibility for the destruction of Twin Towers on September 11, 2001, Al-Ahmed discovered that the original translation made by Pentagon missed the fact that bin Laden identified nine hijackers by name, including brothers Nawaf al Hazmi and Salam al Hazmi, four men from the al-Ghamdi tribe, and two individuals named al-Shehri.

Further details identified by Al-Ahmed, and missed by Pentagon translators, were the names of three Saudi clerics who publicly backed the attacks, according to the man speaking with bin Laden on the tape. The government’s version of the tape also failed to mention bin Laden's instruction to his the followers: "When you hear a breaking news announcement on the radio, kneel immediately, and that means they have hit the World Trade Center."^[5]

Daniel Pearl Murder Discovery[link]

In May 2002, after Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered in Karachi, Pakistan, Al-Ahmed found a video of his beheading on an Arabic-language Web site used to recruit jihadi-s to fight the United States. The footage of Pearl’s murder was interspersed with news clips, Arabic subtitles and calls to holy war directed at young people in Saudi Arabia, at least some of whom found the video appealing. "The first place where they had it on most of the people who commented on the tape, they said, 'I wish I was there. I wish I had done it,'" said Al-Ahmed.

CBS’s decision to air parts of the videotape was criticized by Pearl’s family and the State and Justice Departments, both of whom asked the network not to air the video. Anchor Dan Rather defended CBS’s decision by saying the tape was aired after great deliberation and was carefully edited to omit the most brutal moments. "We believe," said Rather, "it is important for Americans to see it and understand the full impact and danger of the propaganda war being waged against the United States and its allies, and also its effect on the young people of the Arab world."^[6]

Saudi Curriculum of Intolerance Exposed[link]

In May 2006, the Institute for Gulf Affairs and Freedom House’s Center for Religious Freedom released “Saudi Arabia’s Curriculum of Intolerance”, a report analyzing a set of 12 Saudi textbooks currently used in Islamic studies courses for elementary and secondary school students. The analysis showed that the textbooks espoused hatred toward non-Muslims and non-Wahhabi Muslims. IGA collected these textbooks, used in Saudi Arabia and Saudi-run schools outside the Kingdom, from teachers, administrators and families with children in Saudi schools.^[4]

The report debunked claims repeated earlier by Saudi officials, including spokesman Adel Al-Jubeir and Saudi Ambassador to the U.S. Turki al-Faisal, that all educational materials have undergone significant revision. In stark contradiction to these claims, the IGA/FH analysis showed that the textbooks commanded Muslims to hate non-Muslims, denigrated non-Wahhabi Sunni Muslims, and Shi'ite and Sufi muslims as "polytheists", taught conspiracy theories like Protocols of the Elders of Zion as if they were proven facts, and called upon students not to "greet," "befriend," "imitate," "show loyalty to," "be courteous to," or "respect" non-believers. Saudi Arabia runs academies in 19 world capitals, including the Islamic Saudi Academy in Fairfax County near Washington, D.C., that use the same textbooks. The IGA/Freedom House study was cited as evidence in the report released by the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom in October 2007 that urged the State Department to shut down the Academy unless it could prove it was not teaching religious intolerance. The panel expressed "significant concerns" that the school is promoting a brand of religious intolerance that could prove a danger to the United States.^[4]

External links[link]

• Institute for Gulf Affairs
• Saudi Information Agency (English)
• Hypocrisy Most Holy (op-ed in WSJ)
• Interview with PBS Frontline

Notes[link]