WASHINGTON, December 25 (IslamOnline.net) - The newly enacted law to overhaul the US intelligence community is primarily focused on the Muslim world, seeking to magnetize its new generations and recruit them to gather vital information if necessary.

Signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 17, the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act calls for committing a “long-term and sustainable investment” in predominantly Muslim countries, said a statement released by the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs.

The statement, a copy of which was obtained by IslamOnline.net on Saturday, December 25, said the new legislation directs the State Department to establish an International Youth Opportunity Fund through an existing international organization to improve public education in the Muslim world.

It further authorizes a pilot program providing scholarship grants to American-sponsored schools in Muslim countries.

The law is considered to be the largest overhaul of US intelligence-gathering in half of a century.

It creates a national intelligence center and a powerful new position of national intelligence director to oversee the nation’s 15 intelligence agencies.

The law further requires the State Department and the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) to report regularly to the president on Muslim outreach efforts, and requires the development of indigenous media in Muslim countries.

The BBG supervises radio and television targeting chiefly the Muslim and Arab world like the Washington-based Al-Hurra satellite channel, Radio Sawa and the Voice of America (VOA).

Passed 344-51 by the House of Representatives on November 20, America’s 388-billion-dollar budget for 2005 allotted $600 million to extend radio and TV transmission to the Muslim and Arab world, including new air programs and appointment of more staff.

The new behemoth budget also earmarked huge appropriations to the State Department and the BBG in a bid to shine up the country’s blemished image worldwide.

The intelligence act authorizes the US in fiscal years 2005 and 2006 to spend “such sums [of federal funds] as may be necessary” to promote the Partnership for Progress and a Common Future with the Region of the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA).

The initiative was launched by US President George Bush and leaders of the G8, along with leaders of seven countries from the region, at the 2004 G8 summit at Sea Island, Georgia, US.

The new intelligence law also directs the State Department to promote a free press and the development of “professional journalists” in the Muslim world.

It says free press is a must as part of the overall public diplomacy strategy for the Middle East, according to the State Department’s statement.

Under the law, the National Endowment for Democracy shall fund a private-sector group to establish a free-media network to help participants share information concerning development of free media in “societies in transition.”

Additionally, the legislation encourages the State Department to improve its recruitment and training systems in the area of public diplomacy.

It requires the department to “seek individuals” with applicable public relations and language skills to enhance its public diplomacy capabilities in the Muslim world.

A Pentagon report released in November said the US was alienating Muslims worldwide and losing the “the war of ideas” because of adopting faulty policies and what was perceived as “self-serving hypocrisy”.