JAKARTA, Indonesia — Photographs depicting the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by U.S. troops prompted a wave of outrage across the Islamic world Tuesday as Muslims condemned the United States for what they perceived as cruelty and hypocrisy.
For many Muslims already angry about the invasion of Iraq and Washington's support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the photos of naked and hooded Iraqis subjected to humiliation at the hands of their American guards confirmed the widespread view that Washington has no desire to bring human rights to the occupied country.
"People are outraged," said Mona Makram-Ebeid, a professor of political science at American University in Cairo. "Even after everything else that's happened, this is the final drop that makes the U.S. totally lose credibility. Whatever they say about human rights, about democracy, nobody is listening anymore."
Newspapers from Algeria to Pakistan to Indonesia gave prominent play to the abuses at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad. The photographs were first aired on CBS' "60 Minutes II," and the New Yorker magazine first published details of the U.S. investigation. Similar allegations against British troops in Iraq are being investigated.
The U.S. Army general who was in charge of the prison when the alleged abuse occurred last year has been relieved of duty. Six soldiers face criminal charges of cruelty and mistreatment. Six others have been reprimanded for misconduct. The photographs prompted President Bush to express his "deep disgust" and call for a quick investigation.
The graphic images shocked and offended Muslims, who regard nudity and sexual abuse at the hands of Americans -- including grinning women -- as deeply humiliating.
"There is no excuse for what happened," Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi told reporters. "We cannot accept it and there is no justification at all for such inhumane treatment of the Iraqi prisoners."
With its frequent criticism of governments around the world for human rights abuses and mistreatment of jailed dissidents, the U.S. had created the expectation that it would treat prisoners humanely. Respect for human rights was one of the reasons the administration put forward for the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Malaysia's New Straits Times argued in an editorial that the ill treatment of prisoners by U.S. soldiers was not an aberration, as evidenced by past conflicts in Southeast Asia.
