People around the world have been shocked in the past two months
when they saw photographs of naked, hooded Iraqi prisoners being
sexually humiliated by American soldiers, which have sparked anger
worldwide, especially in the Arab world.?
The scandal has not only severely undermined the image of the
United States, which often boasts itself as a "world leader," but
also exposed its "double standard" in dealing with freedom,
democracy and human rights issues.
Wanton acts under mask of freedom
Lynndie England, 21, is one of the seven US Army reservists
charged with inhumanely treating detainees at Abu Ghraib prison,
outside Baghdad.
In one photograph, the female private first class was seen
holding a leash attached to an Iraqi's neck and in another she was
shown smiling with a cigarette dangling from her mouth as she gave
the thumbs-up to a naked and hooded Iraqi man.
Other photos showed that Iraqi inmates were kept naked,
sprawling on top of each other, forced to wear hoods over their
heads, beaten by American jailers and photographed in humiliating
poses.
Those who viewed the photos said the pictures were disgusting
and it was hard to believe that this was actually taking place in a
US-controlled facility.
The pictures outraged the world community and caused uproar in
the United States. The US senate said in a resolution that it
"condemns in the strongest possible terms the despicable acts at
Abu Ghraib prison and joins with the president in expressing
apology for the humiliation suffered by the prisoners in Iraq and
their families."
Last year, the US-led coalition forces toppled former Iraqi
leader Saddam Hussein by a military operation code-named "Iraqi
Freedom."
However, Iraqis now might be more clearly aware of the "double
standard" of freedom flaunted by the United States: Americans are
born with freedom, but people in other countries could not enjoy as
much freedom as Americans; the United States can do whatever it
wants in any part of the world, while others have to pay for its
unjust acts.
Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, accused US
President George W. Bush of presiding over "America's steepest and
deepest fall from grace in the history of our country."
The United States has become "the most hated nation in the world
as a result of this disastrous policy in the prisons," he said.
US soldiers' mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners only triggered more
hatred and retaliatory acts. Mired in a rebellious Iraq, the US-led
coalition is doomed to face an increasingly tougher situation.
Tyranny under mask of democracy
Without an effective legal system, democracy could be easily
hijacked by those who have vicious ambitions.
US soldiers in Iraq performed what is on the contrary to
democracy. The way they conducted interrogations not only
humiliated the Iraqi prisoners and their families, but also
breached the Geneva Convention.
In the United States, suspects are allowed to require the
presence of lawyers during inquiry and nobody could be convicted
unless a series of legal procedures are completed, including court
hearing, defense and even the grand jury giving a verdict.
However, the Bush administration, which always criticizes the
"undemocratic" acts of this or that government, has made it public
that it would neither recognize the International Criminal Court
nor consider ratifying the protocols of the court.
One key principle of democracy is that everyone has the right to
express himself. However, the Iraqi people are deprived of such a
right by the US government.
At a time when a number of governments expressed their
opposition to the Iraqi war and anti-war demonstrations rolled out
across the world, the United States bypassed the United Nations and
unilaterally ran into war with Saddam Hussein's regime.
Looking into the prisoner abuse scandal and Bush's Greater
Middle East Initiative, how can Arab states not cast doubt on the
so-called democracy flaunted by the United States?
Power politics under mask of human rights
People would never forget what has happened at Abu Ghraib prison
and what the United States has done to human rights.
Boasting itself as the guardian of freedom, democracy and human
rights, the United States releases a report every year on human
rights practice of more than 100 countries worldwide, and wantonly
lashes out at human rights records in other countries, irrespective
of differences in politics, economy, history, culture and social
development.
Human rights violation by Saddam's regime was used by the Bush
administration as one of the justifications to invade Iraq. But the
prisoner abuse by US troops, a tip of the iceberg of human rights
violation by the United States, revealed the true face of the super
power.
Although President Bush has argued the abuse was the work of a
handful of US soldiers, media reports have shown that the inhumane
acts are rampant not only in Iraq, but also in Afghanistan and
Guantanamo Bay.
According to Britain's Independent newspaper, the US-led
war in Iraq has claimed 16,000 lives of the Iraqi people, among
them 10,000 civilians.
Since the 1990s, the United States has resorted to use of force
more than 40 times worldwide, bringing tragedy to countless
people.
In face of the abuse scandal, would the United States continue
boasting itself as the "human rights defender" or "human rights
judge"? -- Washington had better resolve its own human rights
problems first.
(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2004)