Sun, May 02, 2004

Iraq Abuse Allegations a Headache for Bush

By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Photographs of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners pose a major problem for President Bush as the United States tries to put down an insurgency, win Arab hearts and quell growing doubts at home about the war.

The pictures triggered outrage in the Middle East, a development that lawmakers and the U.N. secretary-general called damaging to U.S. goals.

"This is the single most significant undermining act that's occurred in a decade in that region of the world in terms of our standing," said Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del. He was asked about photos showing scenes of humiliation that included Iraqi prisoners stripped naked except for hoods covering their heads and stacked in a human pyramid, one with a slur written in English on his skin.

"Everybody understands the phenomenal damage this accusation has caused in that part of the world," Biden said on "Fox News Sunday." "It seems to me this warrants, at a minimum, the president praising the people who turned them in and saying ... he's indignant, he is angry about it."

Bush spoke out forcefully Friday against the mistreatment. "I share a deep disgust that those prisoners were treated the way they were treated," he said. Over the weekend, however, he kept silent on the matter, although he made an indirect reference to it on Saturday night.

"We count ourselves lucky that this new generation of Americans is as brave and decent as any before it," Bush told the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.

Aides said Sunday they knew of no plan for Bush either to issue a fresh condemnation of the abuse or to announce additional investigations or other remedial actions.

It would be difficult for Bush to take his criticism of the episodes further. Denouncing or dismissing the alleged perpetrators would be difficult because the six U.S. soldiers who face possible courts-martial have not been convicted, one aide said. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, said Sunday a court-martial has been ordered so far for only one of the six.

A senior administration official said the timing of the photos was awful for the White House. The photos were made months ago, but their publication last week came two months before the United States plans to hand some political power to Iraqis and six months before the American presidential election.

The photos hurt the U.S. efforts to win over an audience that is already deeply skeptical about U.S. intentions, this official said. Arabs and Muslims are certain to seize upon the images as proof that the American occupiers are as brutal as ousted President Saddam Hussein ( news -web sites )'s government, the senior administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Administration and military officials took pains to draw distinctions between Saddam's treatment of prisoners and the U.S. military's.

"Under Saddam Hussein's regime, this sort of behavior, this sort of treatment at Abu Ghraib (prison) would have been celebrated," said Dan Senor, spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority running Iraq ( news -web sites ). In the case of the Americans' behavior, Senor promised on CNN's "Late Edition" that "whole careers will be ended."

Myers called the abuse "deplorable and appalling" but insisted the Iraqi enemies were much worse.

"They cheer every time they kill some innocent man, woman or child," he said on ABC's "This Week."

Nevertheless, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan ( news -web sites ) said he was deeply troubled by the reports.

"When it comes to these situations we have to respect international humanitarian law," he said. "I am encouraged that the U.S. government is taking it seriously and intends to discipline those involved, and I think that is extremely important because the images' going around the world has been damaging," Annan said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, ranking Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee ( news -web sites ), said lawmakers should open a separate inquiry.

"The first investigation, though, has to be prompt, thorough and tough by the Army, because these are despicable practices which just fuel the hatred and the wrath of those who oppose us," he said on CNN.

The photos added to a wave of other bad news that polls show is increasing public doubt about Iraq and Bush's handling of the war.

On Sunday, seven U.S. soldiers were killed and dozens wounded in two attacks in northern and western Iraq.

Bush has promised that the U.S. military will not "cut and run" in Iraq. But throngs of Iraqis celebrated what they saw as a victory in Fallujah over the weekend when U.S. Marines backed off their threatening posture around the city.



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