DAR AL HARB - U.S.A./U.K.: A 'CULTURAL OFFENSIVE' AGAINST THE MOSLEM JIHAD

Let's launch a 'cultural offensive' against militant Islam, Brown tells Bush

Gordon Brown will use his first formal talks with George Bush to urge a massive cultural offensive against Islamic extremism.

He is set to urge America to learn from the Cold War and mount a battle of ideas rather than rely on military might alone.

Ahead of his first formal talks with President Bush, he declared: "It is our shared task to expose terrorism for what it is - not a cause but a crime. A crime against humanity."

His words contrasted strongly with the Bush rhetoric of a "war against terror".

He emphasised the importance of winning with ideas and values rather than just bullets.

"We should remember that during the Cold War, the united front against Soviet communism involved deterrence through large arsenals of weapons and a cultural effort also on an unprecedented scale, deploying what Roosevelt called the 'arsenal of democracy'," he wrote in the Washington Post.

"Foundations, trusts, civil society and civic organisations - links and exchanges between schools, universities, museums, institutes, churches, trade unions, sports clubs, societies - were all engaged."

His call came at the start of a tricky summit in which the Prime Minister was trying both to appear less eager to please the White House than Tony Blair but also to reassure Mr Bush that he is a reliable ally.

Iraq - which Brown neglected to mention in comments ahead of his trip, will feauture highly in the two leaders' talks.

A new report today have shown nearly a third of the population of Iraq is in need of immediate emergency aid, according to Oxfam and a coalition of Iraqi NGOs.

The groups accused the Iraqi government of failing to provide basic essentials such as water, sanitation, food, and shelter for up to eight million people.

Mr Brown arrived by helicopter at the presidential mountain retreat of Camp David wearing a dark business suit and pale blue tie, a deliberate contrast with the jumper and ultratight chinos worn by Mr Blair at his first summit with President Bush in February 2001.

"It's a great pleasure to be here at Camp David because there's so much history associated with it," he told Mr Bush, who wore a sports jacket and tie.

The President drove his guest in a golf buggy to a private dinner where the pair hoped to establish a personal rapport over roast tenderloin of beef in red wine shallot sauce, followed by Mexican brownies.

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1) Let's launch a 'cultural offensive' against militant Islam, Brown tells Bush