Indignation toward U.S. over abuses fills papers

Indignation toward U.S. over abuses fills papers
By Deborah Horan Tribune staff reporter

As the Pentagon investigates abuses at an Army-run prison in Iraq, local newspaper headlines here are filled with what Iraqis see as American hypocrisy.

"This is how the messengers of democracy treat Iraqi prisoners," blared a headline in one of the country's many flashy tabloids.

"American democracy floods the gates of Abu Ghraib prison," another screamed.

By Tuesday, the news had spawned no riots or demonstrations. So far, more Iraqis have protested the country's proposed blue-striped flag, saying it looks too much like Israel's banner.

But the unfolding Abu Ghraib scandal has sown far deeper ill will than the flap over the flag and confirmed for many Iraqis the popular view here that American soldiers welcomed as liberators a year ago have become unwanted occupiers.

"The reaction will come slowly," said Ismael Zayer, editor of the newspaper Al-Sabah Al-Jedid and former editor of a coalition-run paper. "But the U.S. will have to do something very fast to calm the situation down."

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