European Press Review: The Consequences of Prisoner Abuse in Iraq

The Dutch Algemeen Dagblad looks at the consequences of the reports of torture in Iraq by U.S. and British troops. The damage done by this behavior is enormous, the paper wrote. The scandal for the rest of the world confirms that the United States has taken on more than it can handle in Iraq. The paper said George W. Bush will have to make a sacrifice in Washington and the most prominent victim could be the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.

Italy’s Corriere della Sera agreed, but added that there is more than Rumsfeld’s scalp at stake. The whole U.S. strategy in Iraq is now questionable, the paper said, and we are now seeing the first signs of disagreement within the government in Washington.

Austria’s Der Standard noted that the psychological torture committed in the Baghdad prison, although terrible, cannot be compared to the atrocities committed in the same building under Saddam Hussein. But, the paper emphasized, this does not change the fact that the image of America as a benevolent and positive force has been largely obliterated.

Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung commented that one can only imagine how many major planning mistakes have been caused by the quibbling over how to run the war and establish the peace in Iraq . With all the mistakes together – and they are all mistakes by the Pentagon, the paper said – it is a miracle that most parts of Iraq are relatively peaceful. But, the paper warned, the mistakes are taking their toll and this war is far from over.

Britain’s Independent said the pictures bring to mind the worst images of the Vietnam war, and this is part of a culture and a long tradition that stretches back to the Crusades: that Moslems are unclean, depraved unbelievers, unfit to be treated as humans. This, the paper added, is pretty much what Osama bin Laden says about the West.

The French daily, Liberation, turned its attention to the skyrocketing fuel prices in Europe. The paper blamed George W. Bush. He has turned the entire Middle East into a war zone, the paper said, adding that the price of oil is a good barometer for the state of the world.

In Germany, for example, a liter of gas now costs about €1.20. Germany’s mass-circulation Bild noted that Germans are crimping to save and stretch their budgets. Instead of filling up, they are spending €10 or €20 and complaining to the gas station attendant. But, the paper points out, he only earns one or two cents a liter. The oil companies take about 15 cents and the oil sheikhs earn 18 cents a liter. The other 80-odd cents, the paper concluded, goes into the coffers of the German government.