Back in December 2001, I proposed that the U.S. government fund a satellite TV network in Afghanistan which like the rest of the Middle East is probably now overflowing with satellite TV dishes.

My proposed network involved the use of off-the-shelf hardware and existing satellite capacity to help heal and repair a nation badly damaged by years of warfare.

This network was designed to help instill civility and encouraging dialogue in a broadly dispersed and segmented political forum, a process that has not been easy to maintain. I thought that satellite TV could help open up the process by putting the players, and the agenda on the TV screen in cities and village all across Afghanistan.

So now, I am glad to hear that the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency, has requested $30 million out of its proposed FY2004 annual total budget of $563.5 million to launch a regional satellite TV network that would be distributed direct to millions of homes in the Middle East via more than one satellite.

The BBG has long been successful in similar ventures reaching well over 100 million people in over 60 languages today including the Voice of America, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, Radio Marti and TV Mart+AMw and WORLDNET Television.

However, as the BBG sets it sights on the Middle East, it must be careful so as to not get drawn into a race with Al Jazeera. Regardless of how unacceptable or biased Al Jazeera may be in the minds of Americans, we must avoid stumbling into a trap whereby we end up chasing a regional broadcaster to reach some elusive and ill- defined advantage where success is measured in terms of eyeballs.

There is quite a bit open criticism in Arab media circles today anyway about the role of the Arab TV news organizations during the war in Iraq, but will we further our agenda in the region by taking on Al Jazeera as a matter of U.S. foreign policy?

I do not think so.

Yes, using satellite TV technology to reach a vast audience with our version of the news and world events is important, but as I pointed out in late 2001, the region has multiple needs and the U.S. could accomplish a great deal by doing more than creating an Arabic language version of CNN. Leave that up to Rupert Murdoch, CNN or some other private sector global satellite TV broadcasting and news TV company.

For the Middle East, we need to evaluate the benefits of creating a super C-SPAN which simultaneously fosters debate in Arabic, serves as a means to further the greater use of the English language, drives distance education and does even more.

In effect, we need to spend this $30 million in the most innovative way possible. The U.S. government does not need to spend millions just to square off with Al Jazeera. Let someone else do that, for a profit in the process. Instead, BBG should use satellite TV technology to benefit a large and diverse population.

If we start by serving the needs of this audience effectively, their satellite dishes will welcome our signal.

Peter J. Brown is a free-lance writer from Mount Desert specializing in the global satellite industry. He was born in Turkey.