By Paul Majendie
London - Photos purporting to show American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners drew international condemnation on Friday, with Arabs saying the United States campaign to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis was now a lost cause.
"This is the straw that broke the camel's back for America," said Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the Arab newspaper al Quds al Arabi. "The liberators are worse than the dictators."
"They have not just lost the hearts and minds of Iraqis but all the Third World and the Arab countries," he said.
'The liberators are worse than the dictators' The CBS News programme 60 Minutes II on Wednesday aired photos taken at the Abu Ghraib prison last year apparently showing US troops abusing Iraqis held at what was once a notorious centre of torture and executions under ousted president Saddam Hussein.
Continues Below ↓
The pictures showed US troops smiling, posing, laughing or giving the thumbs-up sign as naked, male Iraqi prisoners were stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts.
US President George Bush said he "shared a deep disgust" at the treatment of Iraqi prisoners after the pictures were published and broadcast around the world.
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was "deeply disturbed" by the pictures and that he hoped it was an isolated incident, his spokesperson Fred Eckhard said.
Britain, the staunchest US ally, condemned the abuse.
'This is the straw that broke the camel's back for America' "Nobody underestimates how wrong this is," Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesperson told reporters. "Actions of this kind are in no way condoned by the coalition."
The publicity could not have been worse in the Arab world, with the sexual humiliation in the pictures especially shocking.
"That really, really is the worst atrocity," Atwan said. "It affects the honour and pride of Muslim people. It is better to kill them than sexually abuse them."
Arab satellite televisions, seen by millions of Arabs and Muslims, began their news bulletins with the pictures, which they said showed the "savagery" of US troops against Iraqi prisoners.
Continues...
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
