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."