Nation & World News
Prisoner abuse colors world reaction to beheading
Some critics of America
believe Nicholas Berg’s
beheading is a justified
response to U.S. abuses
By Tom Hundley
Chicago Tribune (KRT)
LONDON — The abuse of Iraqi pris
oners is causing staunch U.S. allies to
re-examine their relationship with the
Bush administration and is providing
fresh and dramatic evidence for Ameri
ca's critics.
The scandal has even muted the
worldwide response to the beheading
of an American citizen in Iraq, with
some people saying that the killing of
businessman Nicholas Berg was an un
derstandable retaliation for U.S. actions
in Iraq.
German and French officials and cit
izens express vindication for their deci
sion to stay out of the Iraq war, and they
are beginning to question their overall
security relationship with the United
States, analysts said. In Poland, the
abuse scandal has deepened the unease
about their military participation in the
occupation.
Young Chinese nationalists have
seized on the events to heap abuse on
the United States.
"This is the real America mled by
Bush," wrote a participant in one of
China's largest Internet chat rooms.
"This ugly behavior exposes the reality
of so-called democracy and freedom."
The abuse scandal colored reaction
Wednesday to the decapitation of Berg,
whose slaying by masked militants was
broadcast on the Internet.
The Mexico City newspaper Reforma
ran a front-page photo of Berg and his
executioners with the headline: "Be
tween the law... and the law of retalia
tion."
The implication, that Berg's killing
was eye for an eye, was in keeping with
the dominant view in Mexico that the
U.S. has brought its troubles upon it
self.
Arab newspapers conspicuously
played down the killing.
"In normal circumstances, I could
condemn the slaughtering of the Amer
ican, but we are living in abnormal cir
cumstances. I cannot condemn it now,"
said Egyptian columnist Nour al-Uuda
Zaki of Al-Arabi, who told The Associ
ated Press that most Arab newspapers
would avoid any coverage that implic
itly condemned the beheading.
"We know such actions
won t help the Iraqis. It
won't liberate them."
Hamed Abdulkareem
Gaza City resident
A notable exception was in Kuwait,
where several newspapers covered the
Berg slaying on the front page.
The three major Palestinian newspa
pers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip
ran wire stories on the beheading on
their front pages but added no com
ment and published no photos.
"We know such actions won't help
the Iraqis. It won't liberate them," said
Mamed Abdulkareem, 36, of Gaza City.
"The Iraqis will show themselves to be
like Abu Sayyaf," he said, referring to
the radical Muslim group of the Philip
pines, "and no one will sympathize
them."
But Sawsan Al-Masri, a 24-year-old
Gaza mother of one, smiled when
asked about the beheading.
"He deserved it," she said of Berg."
... Do you think what the Americans
did to the detainees was less ugly?"
Some Arabs deplored the Berg killing
mainly because it diverted attention
from the abuse at Abu Ghraib prison,
AP reported.
"Such revenge is rejected," said
Mustafa Bakri, editor of Al-Osboa
weekly newspaper in Egypt. "The Amer
ican administration will make use of
such crimes just to cover their real
crimes against Iraqis."
The charge of America hypocrisy has
been leveled as well in Turkey, where
the government has supported the U S.
but most Turks have opposed the war.
Some parliamentarians have been par
ticularly harsh toward of Bush.
"Ordinary Turks were appalled at the
abuse of the Iraqi prisoners and later by
the murder of the American business
man," said Omer Madra, founder of
Open Radio, an Istanbul station. "But
they are not surprised. The Tbrkish pop
ulation is aware of a certain double
standard ... that while the U.S. preach
es democracy and human rights, it does
not always practice them."
The worldwide outrage over the
abuse complicates the Bush adminis
tration's efforts to get other countries
more involved.
U.S. diplomats express fear that
member nations of Bush's "coalition of
the willing" will find Iraq to be more
trouble than it is worth. Hopes of get
ting NATO involved this summer have
all but expired.
Members of Britain's Parliament are
demanding that Prime Minister Tony
Blair withdraw British troops. And fresh
opinion polls indicate that only 28 per
cent of Britons think their troops
should remain in Iraq.
Government officials or opposition
politicians in Portugal, Hungary and
the Netherlands have raised doubts
about their continued participation.
Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Du
rao Barroso, whose country's contribu
tion to the occupation consists of 128
police officers, said: "You cannot, in the
name of the struggle against terrorism
and for the sake of freedom, contravene
the very values and principles on which
that struggle is based."
(Chicago Tribune correspondents Tom
Hundley in London, Michael A. Lev in
Beijing, Hugh Dellios in Mexico City,
Laurie Goering in Johannesburg, Gary
Marx in Havana, Michael McGuire in
Rome, Catherine Collins in Istanbul and
Mohammed al Waheidi in Gaza City
contributed to this report.) (c) 2004,
Chicago Tribune. Distributed by
Knight Ridder/Tribune Information
Services.
PIERCY
continued from page 1
addressing that, too, and I'm more
than willing to continue to work
with student organizations on that,"
she said.
She said students are an important
part of Eugene.
"I just think we owe our students a
lot of respect, attention to their issues
and inviting them to the table for all
the discussions that affect them in our
community," she said.
Piercy said she is also a proponent
for education.
"I taught school for 20 years, so cer
tainly I draw on my understanding of
how important education is for kids
and how to meet the needs of families
in our community," she said.
Jennifer DeMuth, Lane County
field organizer for the Oregon League
of Conservation Voters, said her or
ganization supports Piercy because of
her proven record on environmental
issues.
"We interviewed both candidates
and we feel confident that Kitty Pier
cy will be a strong leader for Eugene's
water, air and open spaces," she said.
Scott Landfield, co-owner ofTsuna
mi Books in Eugene, said Piercy's pro
gressive stance appeals to him.
"It's time for a fresh vision here in
town," he said. "Her emphasis on re
cruiting environmentally friendly
businesses ... is day and night with
the present regime."
Bart Lewis, a University employee
and member of the Service Employees
International Union Local 503, said
Piercy has always been a friend of ed
ucation and has worked to secure a
living wage for Oregon workers.
"For those of us here on campus,
she's always been someone we admire
for all the work she's done and how
she's helped us," he said.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local
757 Executive Board Officer Carol
Allred said her organization also sup
ports Piercy because of her experience
as a legislator and her work for a suffi
cient minimum wage.
"We've got to get people a living
wage in this area and I believe she's
the gal who will help us do that," she
said.
Piercy said she is ready to take on
the mayoral role with her vision for
Eugene.
"We've spent a lot of time saying
we're not a good community to do
business in or we're combative," she
said. "We are full of creative, forward
thinking creative people. We have a
lot to be proud of."
Contact the city/state politics reporter
at parkerhowell@daityemerald.com.
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