I really believe this is a good thing for U.S. officials to do &
I hope it helps somewhat.
p.s. The last paragraph is a little ironic.
Top U.S. Officials Apologize To Arabs for Prisoner Abuse
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 5, 2004; Page A19
The Bush administration's top foreign policy officials publicly apologized yesterday to the Arab world for abuse of Iraqi detainees by U.S. personnel at notorious Abu Ghraib prison, and officials said President Bush today would join the effort to limit damage from the revelations.
Bush will conduct two 10-minute interviews today with the U.S.-sponsored al-Hurra television network and the Arab network al-Arabiya, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said last night.
"This is an opportunity for the president to speak directly to the people in Arab nations and let them know that the images that we all have seen are shameless and unacceptable," McClellan said.
In interviews with the al-Arabiya, al-Jazeera and Lebanese television networks, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice expressed sorrow yesterday about the treatment of Iraqi detainees and regret for the humiliation of them and their families.
"The American president is reacting because no American wants to be associated with any dehumanizations now of the Iraqi people. And we are deeply sorry for what has happened to these people and what the families must be feeling. It's just not right. And we will get to the bottom of what happened," Rice told al-Arabiya, a regional network broadcast from Dubai.
"It's simply unacceptable that anyone would engage in the abuse of Iraqi prisoners," she said.
The language from several ranking U.S. officials was striking for its remorse and embarrassment over the photos of U.S. personnel apparently abusing Iraqis at the prison made famous for torture during Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule. The White House has scurried to pull together a response after "shock waves" rippled through the administration this week over the damage done in the Arab world, said an envoy from a country familiar with the U.S. reaction.
At the United Nations, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said yesterday that the photos had "stunned every American. It was shocking. It showed acts that are despicable" and totally out of character for the U.S. military, he told reporters after a meeting with Secretary General Kofi Annan, and European Union and Russian officials on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"I'm deeply concerned at the horrible image this has sent around the world. But at the same time, I want to remind the world that it's a small number of troops who acted in an illegal, improper manner," Powell said, reflecting the approach the administration is taking in dealing with the issue.
Rice and Powell stressed that U.S. troops had intervened in Iraq to liberate Iraqis and promote democratic freedoms throughout the region. "Let's not let that take away from the magnificent contributions being made by most of our soldiers, the vast majority of our soldiers, who are building schools, repairing hospitals, who are defending themselves, going after the bad guys, but also putting in sewer systems for the people of Iraq," Powell said on CNN's "Larry King Live."
But Powell, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who served twice in Vietnam, also said he had never heard of or seen behavior like this during his military career.
The administration is coming under growing heat from Congress as well. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, called the prisoners' treatment "appalling" and called for the White House to address the fallout "with far more urgency than the administration has demonstrated so far."
Biden called the alleged abuse "the single most damaging act" to U.S. interests in the Middle East in a decade and warned that it would have a broad and negative impact on U.S. national security.
In an interview with al-Hurra television, Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage acknowledged that long-term damage had been done to U.S. relations in the region.
"It will take a long time, however, I think, for us to recover," Armitage said.
Rice said the United States believes it is "extremely important" to talk directly to Arab and Islamic audiences to underscore the U.S. goal of promoting peace and democratic values.
The State Department announced it is postponing release of its annual report on U.S. support for human rights and democracy around the world, which had been scheduled for today. According to a statement, the report was delayed for "technical reasons." On Monday, however, the State Department had announced that the document was ready to be unveiled.
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