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Even the most gullible and stupidest people abroad no longer believe that
we went to Iraq to promote democracy.
Some people in these newsgroups are more hardheaded than that though.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer
U.S. Faces Lasting Damage Abroad
Moral High Ground Lost, Experts Say
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 7, 2004; Page A26
The United States faces the prospect of a severe and enduring backlash
not just in the Middle East but also among strategic allies, putting
in question the Bush administration's ability to make serious headway
on a range of foreign policy goals for the rest of this presidential
term, according to U.S. officials and foreign policy experts.
The White House damage-control campaign, including the long-awaited
apology from President Bush yesterday, is likely to have only limited,
if any, success in the near term, administration officials said
yesterday.
The White House is so gloomy about the repercussions that senior
adviser Karl Rove suggested this week that the consequences of the
graphic photographs documenting the U.S. abuse of Iraqi detainees are
so enormous that it will take decades for the United States to
recover, according to a Bush adviser.
"It's a blinding glimpse of the obvious to say we're in a hole,"
conceded Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage. He said the
backlash in Europe is even greater than in the 22-nation Arab world.
"For many of our European friends, what they saw on those horrible
pictures is tantamount to torture, and there are very strong views
about that," he said yesterday on CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" show. "In the
Arab world, there is general dismay and disgust, but in some places we
were not real popular to start with. So I think I'm actually seeing a
European reaction quite strong -- quite a bit stronger."
In public and private communications, European officials have become
critical or disdainful of the United States. France's foreign ministry
said in a statement that the abuse is "totally unacceptable" and, if
confirmed, "constitute clear and unacceptable violations of
international conventions."
The issue for Arabs and other allies extends beyond the treatment of
detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison, which is seen as a metaphor for a
stubborn and often defiant U.S. foreign policy under the Bush
administration.
Washington first justified military intervention to oust Saddam
Hussein, without U.N. support, by asserting that Iraq's weapons of
mass destruction were a real and imminent threat -- but then found
none.
The administration has since shifted gears, arguing that its primary
goal has instead been to create a democracy that would inspire Arabs
and the wider Islamic world -- only to delay for several months
acknowledgement or action on the chronic abuse of Iraqi detainees,
analysts note.
As a result, the United States has lost the moral high ground in Iraq,
putting its credibility on the line. Now, its broader goals for the
region -- including an ambitious project to promote democracy, set to
be unveiled by Bush at three international summits next month -- are
in jeopardy, foreign policy and Middle East analysts say.
"The mask of civility has fallen. It used to be that Americans just
don't do that. Now you hear Arabs say, 'Don't lecture us about
democracy and respect for human rights,' " said Raghida Dergham,
senior diplomatic correspondent for the London-based al Hayat
newspaper. "No quick fix is going to reverse the current antagonism
toward American policies."
The pictures -- and the global reaction -- will also complicate
efforts by U.S. institutions, including private humanitarian and human
rights groups, to promote greater respect for democratic reforms,
added Mark Schneider, vice president of International Crisis Group.
Bush's attempt to invoke historic U.S. values to counter the
international fallout is unlikely to ameliorate the foreign
backlash. "Bush's moral confidence in the ultimate goodness of
American culture and justice will not convince people who are hopping
mad today, and who are chronically cynical about the words of
politicians and leaders," said Ellen Laipson, former vice chairman of
the National Intelligence Council and now president of the Stimson
Center, a foreign policy think tank.
The tragic irony, Arab and foreign policy analysts note, is that the
third justification for the intervention in Iraq was the war on
terrorism -- which they say the pictures of the abuse of Iraqi
detainees will instead fuel.
"If you want recruitment tools, these are the best anyone could
imagine. They are a big blow and a stimulant to spur people to act
against the United States. The real kicker for terrorism is indignity
and humiliation, and that's what these pictures are about," said
Moises Naim, editor of Foreign Policy magazine.
The haunting pictures will serve as "manna from heaven" for al Qaeda
and other extremist groups, increasing the dangers to U.S. national
security, said Hisham Melham, Washington correspondent for al-Arabiya,
an Arab television network.
The United States, for now, may also find allies reluctant to engage
on other priorities.
"There are a slew of issues -- from drug trafficking and the
environment -- that the United States won't make much progress on by
acting alone. It needs the help of international countries, and it's
going to be very hard for many politicians, not only Muslims, to be a
friend of the United States," Naim said.
State Department officials are sanguine about the need for additional
and dramatic overtures. "We know there is outrage and it's going to be
around for a long time -- until it's clear we've cleaned it up and it
will never happen again. We have to make sure we meet our promises to
do that," said a senior State Department official who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.
Yet Weekly Standard Editor William Kristol, who once worked for Vice
President Dan Quayle, suggested that Washington will be able to turn
around global public opinion by showing that abuse is not tolerated.
"It's terrible and it's made life difficult for awhile," Kristol
said. "But if it becomes clear that this is the exception and [the
troops involved] are held accountable, it could end up being an
impressive demonstration to countries where torture is routine."
Staff writers Dan Balz and Glenn Kessler contributed to this report.
2004 The Washington Post Company
we went to Iraq to promote democracy.
Some people in these newsgroups are more hardheaded than that though.
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp...nguage=printer
U.S. Faces Lasting Damage Abroad
Moral High Ground Lost, Experts Say
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 7, 2004; Page A26
The United States faces the prospect of a severe and enduring backlash
not just in the Middle East but also among strategic allies, putting
in question the Bush administration's ability to make serious headway
on a range of foreign policy goals for the rest of this presidential
term, according to U.S. officials and foreign policy experts.
The White House damage-control campaign, including the long-awaited
apology from President Bush yesterday, is likely to have only limited,
if any, success in the near term, administration officials said
yesterday.
The White House is so gloomy about the repercussions that senior
adviser Karl Rove suggested this week that the consequences of the
graphic photographs documenting the U.S. abuse of Iraqi detainees are
so enormous that it will take decades for the United States to
recover, according to a Bush adviser.
"It's a blinding glimpse of the obvious to say we're in a hole,"
conceded Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage. He said the
backlash in Europe is even greater than in the 22-nation Arab world.
"For many of our European friends, what they saw on those horrible
pictures is tantamount to torture, and there are very strong views
about that," he said yesterday on CNN's "Paula Zahn Now" show. "In the
Arab world, there is general dismay and disgust, but in some places we
were not real popular to start with. So I think I'm actually seeing a
European reaction quite strong -- quite a bit stronger."
In public and private communications, European officials have become
critical or disdainful of the United States. France's foreign ministry
said in a statement that the abuse is "totally unacceptable" and, if
confirmed, "constitute clear and unacceptable violations of
international conventions."
The issue for Arabs and other allies extends beyond the treatment of
detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison, which is seen as a metaphor for a
stubborn and often defiant U.S. foreign policy under the Bush
administration.
Washington first justified military intervention to oust Saddam
Hussein, without U.N. support, by asserting that Iraq's weapons of
mass destruction were a real and imminent threat -- but then found
none.
The administration has since shifted gears, arguing that its primary
goal has instead been to create a democracy that would inspire Arabs
and the wider Islamic world -- only to delay for several months
acknowledgement or action on the chronic abuse of Iraqi detainees,
analysts note.
As a result, the United States has lost the moral high ground in Iraq,
putting its credibility on the line. Now, its broader goals for the
region -- including an ambitious project to promote democracy, set to
be unveiled by Bush at three international summits next month -- are
in jeopardy, foreign policy and Middle East analysts say.
"The mask of civility has fallen. It used to be that Americans just
don't do that. Now you hear Arabs say, 'Don't lecture us about
democracy and respect for human rights,' " said Raghida Dergham,
senior diplomatic correspondent for the London-based al Hayat
newspaper. "No quick fix is going to reverse the current antagonism
toward American policies."
The pictures -- and the global reaction -- will also complicate
efforts by U.S. institutions, including private humanitarian and human
rights groups, to promote greater respect for democratic reforms,
added Mark Schneider, vice president of International Crisis Group.
Bush's attempt to invoke historic U.S. values to counter the
international fallout is unlikely to ameliorate the foreign
backlash. "Bush's moral confidence in the ultimate goodness of
American culture and justice will not convince people who are hopping
mad today, and who are chronically cynical about the words of
politicians and leaders," said Ellen Laipson, former vice chairman of
the National Intelligence Council and now president of the Stimson
Center, a foreign policy think tank.
The tragic irony, Arab and foreign policy analysts note, is that the
third justification for the intervention in Iraq was the war on
terrorism -- which they say the pictures of the abuse of Iraqi
detainees will instead fuel.
"If you want recruitment tools, these are the best anyone could
imagine. They are a big blow and a stimulant to spur people to act
against the United States. The real kicker for terrorism is indignity
and humiliation, and that's what these pictures are about," said
Moises Naim, editor of Foreign Policy magazine.
The haunting pictures will serve as "manna from heaven" for al Qaeda
and other extremist groups, increasing the dangers to U.S. national
security, said Hisham Melham, Washington correspondent for al-Arabiya,
an Arab television network.
The United States, for now, may also find allies reluctant to engage
on other priorities.
"There are a slew of issues -- from drug trafficking and the
environment -- that the United States won't make much progress on by
acting alone. It needs the help of international countries, and it's
going to be very hard for many politicians, not only Muslims, to be a
friend of the United States," Naim said.
State Department officials are sanguine about the need for additional
and dramatic overtures. "We know there is outrage and it's going to be
around for a long time -- until it's clear we've cleaned it up and it
will never happen again. We have to make sure we meet our promises to
do that," said a senior State Department official who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.
Yet Weekly Standard Editor William Kristol, who once worked for Vice
President Dan Quayle, suggested that Washington will be able to turn
around global public opinion by showing that abuse is not tolerated.
"It's terrible and it's made life difficult for awhile," Kristol
said. "But if it becomes clear that this is the exception and [the
troops involved] are held accountable, it could end up being an
impressive demonstration to countries where torture is routine."
Staff writers Dan Balz and Glenn Kessler contributed to this report.
2004 The Washington Post Company
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