Honestly, I don't think there is a strategy that will work now. The military shouldn't have waited until 60 Minutes II broke the story, they shoudl have come forward themselves and pre-empted all this. It is too late now, the hole is already dug.
washingtonpost.com
In U.S., Seeking To Limit Damage
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 4, 2004; Page A18
The Bush administration is struggling to develop a damage-control strategy to counter the mounting global backlash against the United States after revelations that U.S. military and intelligence personnel abused Iraqi prisoners, according to U.S. officials.
The search for a strong response follows a review of international reaction by the State Department's Intelligence and Research Department that revealed devastating fallout and criticism well beyond the Islamic world, from Brazil and Britain to Hong Kong, U.S. officials said.
"It's very, very sobering," said a State Department official briefed on the INR review. He requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. "It's like the song by the Who, 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.' That's the widespread perception we have to deal with."
U.S. diplomats around the world have sent troubling cables back to Washington including angry commentary in editorials and government condemnation of the abuse, with warnings that the graphic photographs of naked Iraqi prisoners with their gloating jailers could seriously affect U.S. standing and broader foreign policy, U.S. officials said. Many U.S. embassies have asked for guidance on how to respond, they added.
"There are certainly a lot of people who are very disturbed by the pictures and the reports that are coming out," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
The administration has rushed to get top foreign policy officials to condemn the abuses. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers, was hastily added to the Sunday talk show lineup, and Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, appeared on morning programs yesterday. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who will assume responsibility for Iraq after the handover of power on June 30, is to appear on CNN's "Larry King Live" tonight.
The effort to produce a convincing explanation of what happened at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison comes as the State Department prepares to release its annual report accounting for how the United States supports human rights and democracy around the world. The report is due out Wednesday.
The administration's position is that the acts were by a handful of offenders violating U.S. policy and that they will be dealt with harshly. After talking with Guatemalan President Oscar Berger Perdomo, Powell called the abuse "despicable acts" and stressed that the United States is in Iraq "to help, not to hurt."
"And so the acts of a few, I trust, will not overwhelm the goodness coming from so many of our soldiers, and I'm sure that the investigations will get to the bottom of this and make sure that any problems that exist in the prison system will be fixed, and fixed promptly," Powell said.
But U.S. officials are concerned because the fallout extends well beyond the Middle East to public opinion among European allies, including countries in the U.S.-led coalition.
The INR survey cited a British commentary calling the treatment at Abu Ghraib "barbaric idiocy" and an Italian commentator warning that the abuse reflected a failure of leadership that will produce hundreds of new recruits for al Qaeda, said the State Department official familiar with the review. Britain and Italy are two of the key European contributors to the U.S.-led coalition.
In Brazil, the INR review noted, a commentary called for global condemnation of the U.S. abuses and describing treatment at Abu Ghraib as "the bastard daughter" of the open-ended detention of suspected al Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The international outrage has been so fierce that the current approach of blaming a few individuals is inadequate, U.S. officials say. "We're now realizing that we can't expect the Pentagon to handle all of these criticisms and requests to focus on the public affairs disaster this has caused," said the State Department official, who is involved in the strategy discussions.
"We're frantically working this issue and trying to come up with a strategy," he added. "We need to beat this back. People want not just words but action . . . to deal with this international firestorm."
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
washingtonpost.com
In U.S., Seeking To Limit Damage
By Robin Wright
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 4, 2004; Page A18
The Bush administration is struggling to develop a damage-control strategy to counter the mounting global backlash against the United States after revelations that U.S. military and intelligence personnel abused Iraqi prisoners, according to U.S. officials.
The search for a strong response follows a review of international reaction by the State Department's Intelligence and Research Department that revealed devastating fallout and criticism well beyond the Islamic world, from Brazil and Britain to Hong Kong, U.S. officials said.
"It's very, very sobering," said a State Department official briefed on the INR review. He requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject. "It's like the song by the Who, 'Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.' That's the widespread perception we have to deal with."
U.S. diplomats around the world have sent troubling cables back to Washington including angry commentary in editorials and government condemnation of the abuse, with warnings that the graphic photographs of naked Iraqi prisoners with their gloating jailers could seriously affect U.S. standing and broader foreign policy, U.S. officials said. Many U.S. embassies have asked for guidance on how to respond, they added.
"There are certainly a lot of people who are very disturbed by the pictures and the reports that are coming out," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.
The administration has rushed to get top foreign policy officials to condemn the abuses. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard B. Myers, was hastily added to the Sunday talk show lineup, and Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the chief U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad, appeared on morning programs yesterday. Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, who will assume responsibility for Iraq after the handover of power on June 30, is to appear on CNN's "Larry King Live" tonight.
The effort to produce a convincing explanation of what happened at Iraq's notorious Abu Ghraib prison comes as the State Department prepares to release its annual report accounting for how the United States supports human rights and democracy around the world. The report is due out Wednesday.
The administration's position is that the acts were by a handful of offenders violating U.S. policy and that they will be dealt with harshly. After talking with Guatemalan President Oscar Berger Perdomo, Powell called the abuse "despicable acts" and stressed that the United States is in Iraq "to help, not to hurt."
"And so the acts of a few, I trust, will not overwhelm the goodness coming from so many of our soldiers, and I'm sure that the investigations will get to the bottom of this and make sure that any problems that exist in the prison system will be fixed, and fixed promptly," Powell said.
But U.S. officials are concerned because the fallout extends well beyond the Middle East to public opinion among European allies, including countries in the U.S.-led coalition.
The INR survey cited a British commentary calling the treatment at Abu Ghraib "barbaric idiocy" and an Italian commentator warning that the abuse reflected a failure of leadership that will produce hundreds of new recruits for al Qaeda, said the State Department official familiar with the review. Britain and Italy are two of the key European contributors to the U.S.-led coalition.
In Brazil, the INR review noted, a commentary called for global condemnation of the U.S. abuses and describing treatment at Abu Ghraib as "the bastard daughter" of the open-ended detention of suspected al Qaeda detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The international outrage has been so fierce that the current approach of blaming a few individuals is inadequate, U.S. officials say. "We're now realizing that we can't expect the Pentagon to handle all of these criticisms and requests to focus on the public affairs disaster this has caused," said the State Department official, who is involved in the strategy discussions.
"We're frantically working this issue and trying to come up with a strategy," he added. "We need to beat this back. People want not just words but action . . . to deal with this international firestorm."
© 2004 The Washington Post Company
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