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Bush's backing of Rumsfeld shocks and angers Arabs
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-05-11 19:45 Arab commentators reacted with shock and disbelief
on Monday over President Bush's robust backing of Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld against calls for his resignation.
Critics had called for him to
quit after the furor over the abuse of Iraqi prisoners but analysts, editors and
ordinary Arabs were united in their condemnation of Bush who said the United
States owed Rumsfeld a "debt of gratitude."
"After the torture and vile
acts by the American army, President Bush goes out and congratulates Rumsfeld.
It's just incredible. I am in total shock," said Omar Belhouchet, editor of the
influential Algerian national daily El Watan.
"Bush's praise for
Rumsfeld will discredit the United States...and further damage its reputation,
which is already at a historic low in the Arab world," he added.
Analysts have said the damage from images seen worldwide of U.S.
soldiers abusing naked Iraqi prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison would be indelible,
incalculable and a gift to al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
What people
saw, they said, was the true image of the occupation: humiliation of an occupied
people, contempt for Islam, sadism and racism.
"After Mr. Bush's
decision to keep Rumsfeld, all their apologies seem like lip service,"
Dubai-based political analyst Jawad al-Anani told Reuters. "Mr. Rumsfeld would
have certainly lost his job if the prisoners were American."
"The United
States is spending so much money by setting up Alhurra television and Radio Sawa
to improve its image in the Arab world...How can it reconcile that with keeping
a man who has insulted every Arab through the abuses of Iraqi prisoners," added
Anani, a former Jordanian foreign minister.
University of Algiers
professor Mahmoud Belhimeur agreed.
"I cannot believe the United States
reacts the way an authoritarian regimes would. Bush should have done the
honorable thing and fired Rumsfeld," he said.
RUMSFELD "SYMBOL"
OF IRAQ WAR
But Michael Cox, professor of international
relations at the London School of Economics, said the repercussions of firing
the defense secretary would have been very significant for Bush.
"This
has been Rumsfeld's war, and I suppose the political symbolism of trying to get
rid of Rumsfeld would be huge."
Cox said he could not entirely rule out
that Rumsfeld could go, if U.S. public opinion turned. But he added it would
seem out of character for Rumsfeld to go quietly.
"'I want to spend more
time with my family' doesn't sound too credible with Mr. Rumsfeld. With Mr.
Powell maybe, but not Rumsfeld," he said.
A Saudi businessman, who asked
not to be named, said keeping Rusmfeld would be seen as Washington's quiet
approval of the abuse.
"This just confirms that what is happening in
Iraq in general, and especially what is happening in Abu Ghraib is sanctioned by
the American administration and that is a hell of a position to be in.
"I see no advantage in keeping Rumsfeld. Bush should be building bridges with
the outside world."
Mustapha Ramid, a prominent Moroccan opposition member
of parliament said: "It's normal for Bush to back Rumsfeld. The contrary would
have been a real surprise. This shows that Bush takes responsibility for what's
happening in Iraq."
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