President Bush Speaks To Arab World

Following the release of pictures showing some American soldiers humiliating Iraqi prisoners in a prison in Iraq, President Bush spoke to the Arab community yesterday on two Arab-languare networks. "'We don't tolerate these type of abuses," Bush told Al-Arabiya television, a satellite channel based in the United Arab Emirates. "There will be a full investigation."

Now we have to wonder about how the Iraqi people, and the Arab community as a whole, respond to President Bush's comments. We get our first taste from the web log of Omar Fadhil, an Iraqi dentist and blogger. He shares comments from posts to an Iraqi message board. Here's a sample of what's being said by Iraqis and others in the Middle East...

Here we have the president of the greatest nation on earth apologizes for what a small group of pervert soldiers did. And here, the American press proves that it's free to show the truth. We lived with similar pictures for years until they became the basics of every prison's daily life and we never heard an Arabic paper point them out. These are lessons from the western culture entering the hearts of Arabs, whether the Arab leaders liked or not.
Sa'eed - Diwaniyah/Iraq.

I think that president Bush was honest in what he said. Those abuses do not represent the American people. As a matter of fact, we can find cruel men with no morals in any country; that's why we should not judge a whole nation for the violations of a small group of people and I'm sure that these will get the punishment they deserve. Here I'd like to direct my question to the Arabic media: Where were you when Saddam mass-executed my people and used all kinds of torture against us?.
Reemon A'adel Sami - Iraq

I'm very happy to see Iraqis condemning the abuse and defending the rights of the prisoners and this is the first time they do something like this, which was impossible for them to do under the dictator's regime. I think that our Arab brothers should mind their own business and take a look at their own prisons.
N - Jordan

I think that President Bush's statement will find acceptance from some of the Arabs, while the majority will not be satisfied with his words whatever apologies they included just because he is BUSH and he is AMERICAN. I'm sure that the American officials are more upset by the event than the Iraqis themselves because this doesn't belong to their culture or their ethics as a civilized nation. I think that the event took more space than it actually deserves and the media are creating a mountain from a grain. It's enough for us to remember Saddam's doings to comment on what recently happened.
Sameer - Jordan

I highly recommed that you check out Omar's blog, especially if you'd like a first-hand look at life in Iraq. He apparently takes some flak because he looks upon the U.S. and the defeat of Hussein as... gasp... good things.