Iraq invasion has marred U.S. image among Muslims: Analysts

Iraq invasion has marred U.S. image among Muslims: Analysts

Simon Martin, Agence France-Presse, Jakarta

The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq almost one year ago tarnished America's reputation among Southeast Asian Muslims and eroded support for its war on terror, analysts and Islamic leaders say.

Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri, who heads the world's largest Muslim-populated nation, was among the first foreign leaders to express condolences to the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

But just last month she bitterly criticized the war in Iraq as "exceptional injustice" against a Muslim country.

"The general view here is that the U.S. and its allies have lied because the existence of weapons of mass destruction cannot be proven, therefore the invasion is unjustified," Din Syamsuddin, deputy chairman of Indonesia's second largest Islamic group Muhammadiyah, told AFP.

"America is viewed as arrogant and imperialistic, trying to impose its values on other countries."

An international opinion survey published last June by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center concluded that the Iraq war had further inflamed Muslims worldwide and softened support for the war on terror.

It found that favorable ratings for the U.S. had fallen from 61 to 15 percent among Indonesians within a year.

Sidney Jones, of the International Crisis Group of political analysts, said Iraq was a major factor in the change of mood. But the detention of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay and tighter U.S. visa regulations for Muslim visitors had also soured attitudes.

"The cumulative effect is that in Indonesia and many other Muslim countries the U.S. is seen as having interpreted the war on terror as a license to take harsh steps against Muslims," she said.

"The war on terror is still seen as a war on Muslims. Many Muslims see the U.S. as engaged in a systematic campaign against them."

Jones said the "cumulative effect of Bush administration policies including Iraq is that the US has lost a lot of influence and its image as a champion of democracy and human rights has been tarnished."

That loss of influence was clearly demonstrated when Indonesia last May launched a major military campaign to crush Aceh separatist rebels despite U.S. objections.

"Honestly, what we are doing or will do in Aceh is much less than the American power that was deployed in Iraq. We aren't violating anyone's sovereignty," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda at the time.

Last December Hassan said scathingly that the struggle against terrorism "calls for wise policies, not smart bombs". Civilian casualties created martyrs and fueled support for extremists, he said.

Azyumardi Azra, rector of the Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University (UIN), said the decision to go to war without United Nations backing was partly to blame.

"Most Indonesians including the Islamists believed Saddam Hussein was a ruthless dictator," he said. "But unilateral efforts by the U.S. were quite unacceptable for Indonesians at large."

Azyumardi said the invasion created much resentment among Muslims and there was also some resentment over its tougher immigration policy

"Many Muslims see the war on terror as a war against Muslims, especially the Islamists."

He said anti-U.S. sentiment was now abating slightly in Indonesia. "If the US is able to expedite the process of forming a new government in Iraq, the situation will be better."

Neighboring Muslim-majority Malaysia also bitterly attacked the Iraq war.

Then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who had been feted by the U.S. for his support in the campaign against terrorism, described the invasion as a cowardly and imperial act "by those who still want to rule the world."

He predicted it would encourage more angry Muslims to join militant groups.

Abdul Razak Baginda, executive director of the Malaysian Strategic Research Center, said Malaysia felt its opposition to the war had been vindicated by the failure to find any weapons of mass destruction.

But it was not only the war which had tarnished the U.S. image.

"Don't look at the war in isolation. There are other factors, such as the treatment of Muslims entering the U.S. and discriminatory policies against Muslims."