Allegations of torture. Pictures of bloodied prisoners. Reminders of embarrassing acts by US troops.
All of a sudden, US President George W. Bush's administration finds itself thrown back on the defensive in its long campaign to persuade the Muslim world that the global war on terrorism is not a war on the Muslim faith.
In just a few days, the US has endured a pair of blows to its image abroad. The publication of previously unseen photos from the infamous Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, plus a UN report calling for the closure of the US prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, have forced the administration to defend its record and try to regain the public relations initiative.
"It reiterates how important the battle for hearts and minds is, and how poorly we're doing," said P.J. Crowley, a one-time Pentagon spokesman who is director of national defense and homeland security at the Center for American Progress, a liberal-leaning research institute.
With the Australian news media and the Web site Salon.com unveiling pictures and documents about US troops abusing Iraqis at Abu Ghraib in 2003, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld tried to put the matter to rest on Thursday. He told a congressional panel that nothing in the photos and videos was new, and had all been investigated.
"I'm told that these photographs that are coming out now are nothing more than the same things that came out before, if not identical, of the same type of behavior," Rumsfeld said. "That behavior's been punished."
Administration officials also sought to discredit a UN report released on Thursday on the US military's detention facility for terrorist suspects at Guantanamo Bay, which urged that it be closed down Some interrogation techniques caused extreme suffering, the UN report said.
"Such treatment amounts to torture," it said.
That's exactly the kind of accusation the Pentagon repeatedly has denied but cannot seem to escape, more than four years after terror suspects captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan began arriving at Guantanamo Bay.
Bryan Whitman, a spokesman for Rumsfeld, told reporters he saw no merit in the UN report, whose authors did not visit the prison after being promised only partial access to prisoners.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan rejected the report's call to shut down the prison compound.
"These are dangerous terrorists that we're talking about that are there," McClellan said, adding the report was a "rehash" of allegations based on claims by al-Qaeda terrorists who are trained to lie.
"It is difficult for us to preach democracy on the one hand when acting undemocratically -- if not illegally -- on the other hand," Crowley said.
FRUSTRATIONS: One in seven youths in China and Indonesia are unemployed, and many in the region are stuck in low-productivity jobs, the World Bank said Young people across Asia are struggling to find good jobs, with many stuck in low-productivity work that the World Bank said could strain social stability as frustrations fuel a global wave of youth-led protests. The bank highlighted a persistent gap between younger and more experienced workers across several Asian economies in a regional economic update released yesterday, noting that one in seven young people in China and Indonesia are unemployed. The share of people now vulnerable to falling into poverty is now larger than the middle class in most countries, it said. “The employment rate is generally high, but the young struggle to
ENERGY SHIFT: A report by Ember suggests it is possible for the world to wean off polluting sources of power, such as coal and gas, even as demand for electricity surges Worldwide solar and wind power generation has outpaced electricity demand this year, and for the first time on record, renewable energies combined generated more power than coal, a new analysis said. Global solar generation grew by a record 31 percent in the first half of the year, while wind generation grew 7.7 percent, according to the report by the energy think tank Ember, which was released after midnight yesterday. Solar and wind generation combined grew by more than 400 terawatt hours, which was more than the increase in overall global demand during the same period, it said. The findings suggest it is
IN THE AIR: With no compromise on the budget in sight, more air traffic controllers are calling in sick, which has led to an estimated 13,000 flight delays, the FAA said Concerns over flight delays and missed paychecks due to the US government shutdown escalated on Wednesday, as senators rejected yet another bid to end the standoff. Democrats voted for a sixth time to block a Republican stopgap funding measure to reopen government departments, keeping much of the federal workforce home or working without pay. With the shutdown in its eighth day, lines at airports were expected to grow amid increased absenteeism among security and safety staff at some of the country’s busiest hubs. Air traffic controllers — seen as “essential” public servants — are kept at work during government shutdowns, but higher numbers
Elvis Nghobo tried to get into four different professional schools in Cameroon, but could not make it. Frustrated, the 34-year-old turned to selling food at a market in Yaounde, the country’s seat of power. Nghobo blames his woes on what he calls a corrupt education system that favors children of the elite. As the central African country prepares for Sunday’s presidential election, he said he would not be heading out to vote. He called the results a foregone conclusion for 92-year-old Paul Biya, the world’s oldest president, who has ruled for Nghobo’s entire life. “He is already too old to govern, and it’s boring
RSS