The abuse of Iraqi war prisoners by US troops has not only badly damaged the image of the United States around the world, but also complicated US foreign policy, especially its Middle East strategy, US scholar told Xinhua Tuesday in an interview.

"This is a horrible event. It badly damages America's already weak image around the world. This is going to complicate American foreign policy obviously in the Islamic world, but will also complicate American foreign policy generally," said Ted Galen Carpenter, vice president for Foreign Policy and Defense Studies at the Cato Institute, a Washington-based think tank.

The photos of US soldiers abusing Iraqi war prisoners will go around the Muslim world "for years, maybe decades." "This has permanently damaged America's credibility, has permanently damagedits reputation. There is no way to overcome that," Carpenter said.

Carpenter said that according to opinion polls taken late last month, 57 percent of the Iraqis wanted the US-led coalition forcesto leave their country immediately and the United States was viewed favorably by only 23 percent of the Iraqis.

"That was before the scandal broke out, so I would think that the support among the Iraqis for the US-led mission is now even weaker than it was at that time," Carpenter said.

"I am certain that probably 80-85 percent of the Iraqis now regard the United States as occupiers not liberators," Carpenter said.

With the abuse scandal, the withering support among the Iraqis and all the other bad news coming from Iraq, it has certainly become much more difficult for the United States to move ahead with its ambitious project in the Middle East, said Leon T. Hadar,a foreign policy analyst at the Cato Institute.

President Bush hopes to put forward the "Greater Middle East Initiative" at the G-8 summit meeting next month to encourage economic and democratic reforms in the Middle East countries. Suchan initiative has been rejected by most Arab and Muslim countries,including the US allies Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The abuse scandal will force the United States to change its strategy in Iraq and find a "much more viable" one, Hadar said.

"The United Nations should be the main legitimate outside powerthat will provide security for the Iraqis until they can take charge of their interests.

This is the only viable option at this point," Hadar said, adding that the United States should also allow the international community, including European and Arab countries, to play a stronger role in Iraq.

"What the United States needs to do now is to find a formula that will come up with a clear, coherent exit strategy," Hadar stressed.

"The bottom line is that most Iraqis want the United States to eventually leave Iraq," Hadar said.

Hadar was echoed by Carpenter, who insisted that the United States should develop "a fairly rapid" exit strategy from Iraq andturn over "real power, not just nominal sovereignty" to an interimIraqi government.

If the Bush administration goes toward the contrary and pours in more troops into Iraq, the United States might repeat the same kind of mistakes as it made in Vietnam in the 1960s, Carpenter said.

Source: Xinhua