CAIRO, 5 May 2004 — The recent images of coalition troops abusing Iraqi prisoners have dealt another blow to US efforts to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis and increased alienation to the occupying powers.
Reaction amongst Iraqis and other Arabs indicate that last week’s pictures of apparent abuse have undermined the main credit the armies which came in the name of liberation could have taken: the removal of a leader known for brutality against his own people.
On Monday, the Iraqi newspaper Al-Shiraa announced it was adopting a project to create a memorial for Iraqi prisoners tortured by occupation troops.
And outside Iraq, the Egyptian weekly Al-Osboa summed up the anger and disillusionment felt by many in the Arab world with a full front page photo and the caption: “A British bastard urinates on an Iraqi prisoners. This is democracy.”
Al-Ahram, another newspaper carried similar pictures on its front page. But although usually much more toned down than the El-Osboa tabloid, Al-Ahram’s editorial did not mince words either.
“These images reveal clearly the false American claims put up to justify the war. It said it came to liberate the Iraqi people from the dictatorship of the former regime while it exceeded its human rights violations,” Al-Ahram said. Al-Ahram’s respected columnist Salama Ahmad Salama said there was no longer a difference between an army led by US President George Bush or an army led by Saddam Hussein. “These ugly images that revealed violations of all values cannot but be a cause for the failure of any attempts to reach a truce between the U.S. forces and Iraqi resistance,” Salama said.
The denouncement of the motives behind the US-led coalition was accompanied by equal disbelief that the alleged perpetrators would be brought to justice by their own superiors.
“What punishment will these violators receive? Will we just continue to hear condemnations?” asked an Iraqi journalist in a report for Al-Jazeera television that included an interview with one of the Iraqi prisoners whose pictures had been shown in US media reports. On the political level, Arab League spokesman Hossam Zaki strongly condemned the alleged torture incidents and demanded that those responsible be brought to trial. However, one observer who asked not to be named noted in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the lack of any official Arab reaction to the apparent scenes of torture was noteworthy.
Indeed, Egypt’s state-owned channels did not show any footage of the abuse but merely reported the news verbally, and several Egyptians interviewed by DPA were not aware of the outrage caused by the images.
But even though Arabs might be unused to actually seen such images, they are familiar with the patterns of torture against prisoners, reportedly against Palestinians and Arabs in Israeli prisons.
And with the availability of satellite TV, many — including Al-Ahram columnist Salama — saw last week’s scenes on Western channels. They were also broadcast repeatedly by both Al-Arabiya and Al-Jazeera, for many the CNNs of the Arab world. Whether they saw the pictures in newspapers, on Arab or on Western channels, however, the response within and outside of Iraq seemed one of unanimous condemnation.
Why does the US-led coalition claim to bring freedom and democracy, was the underlying tone. Amira Adel, an Egyptian housewife, said: “From Saddam to the Americans. It’s the same thing for the Iraqis.”