Iraqis dismiss Bush's Abu Ghraib plan

Bush told an audience on Monday night at the Army War College in Pennsylvania Abu Ghraib prison would be destroyed "as a fitting symbol of Iraq's new beginning".

Ahmad Hasan al-Uqaili, deputy chief of the Human Rights Organisation in Iraq, dismissed Bush's promise as a Republican ploy "to win the [presidential] election in the United States".

Al-Uqaili said the most important thing was to end the abuses committed in the prison by both Saddam's regime and the US guards.

"The problem is not changing the location or the name of the prison," he said.

"It's about the staff of the prison. Those people are supposed to be trained in human rights. Even if a person is a prisoner, he is a human being first who must be treated with respect and dignity."

Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Hamad al-Bayati said the decision to demolish Abu Ghraib "must be left to the new government" which Bush promised would be in power on 30 June.

"The recent abuses committed by US troops against Iraqi prisoners have certainly contributed to conjuring up the idea of demolishing the prison," he said.

Purpose?

Relatives of prisoners still held in Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad dismissed on Tuesday the promise made by Bush to demolish the building that has become an ugly symbol of US occupation.

Speaking as she waited outside the Abu Ghraib prison complex to hear news about her husband and son, Makiya Rashid said demolishing the building did not address the issue of prisoner abuse.

She said: "If he demolishes this prison and builds another, what's the purpose behind that? It will be the same, he will still torture our sons in it."

Meanwhile, Amir al-Izawi - also waiting for news of an imprisoned relative - dismissed the speech by Bush as "propaganda for his election".

During his address, Bush also said the US would stay in Iraq until it was free and democratic and suggested more US soldiers might have to be sent to the country.

His speech, five months before the US presidential election, was aimed at reassuring the US public as doubts rise about the war.

Abuse investigations

But criticism abounded that the speech offered "nothing new".

Bush outlined his five-step plan for ceding control of Iraqi sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government in line with UN envoy al-Akhdar al-Ibrahimi's suggestions and advice.

He also briefly touched upon the ongoing graphic revelations of abuse and torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib and other US-run detention facilities around the country by calling such actions the "disgraceful conduct by a few American troops who dishonoured our country".

The US president did not, however, elaborate on the ongoing investigations of prisoner abuse in Iraq.

Judith Kipper, director of the Middle East Forum at the Council on Foreign Relations, believes Bush's speech "was an organised review but there wasn't anything new".

Kipper does not believe the prime-time address will help boost the president's approval rating.

She told Aljazeera.net: "American people make choices on actions not words. No single speech is going to determine US public opinion. If things improve in Iraq and the handover of sovereignty is peaceful, we can address the poll question at that time."

Nihad Awad, director of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), was also adamant: "There was no mentioning of the abuse of prisoners, he did not talk about accountability."

Awad believes the speech was to be expected given the lack of security in Iraq, apparent failure of Iraq policy, the scandal of the prison abuse and the blows to the credibility and the popularity of the president in the US.


Aljazeera + Agencies
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/521C8F89-BDE4-4596-BE6B-C408F07706CE.htm