Arab commentators highlight U.S. impotence in face of Katrina

[ECH1969]

CAIRO: The death and devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina and the slow response to the catastrophe by the Bush administration has shown up the "impotence" of the world's only superpower in the eyes of many in the Middle East.

"The failure of the United States to deal with the consequences of Hurricane Katrina has highlighted the weakness of the American superpower," wrote Egypt's government newspaper Al-Akhbar. " Bush is seen as a bad omen by the people of the United States," added editorial writer Galal Doweidar.

A commentator on state television in U.S. arch-foe Iran said the response to Katrina showed the United States was a superpower "only on paper" and was "blind to the widening gulf" affecting the black population and the poor.

The Al-Qaeda linked group headed by Iraq's most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi similarly suggested the devastation wrought by Katrina was the beginning of the end for the U.S. "It is the start of its collapse," it said in an Internet statement. "Just yesterday, America attacked, killed and starved whomever it liked. Today, it is begging for oil and food. America has been hit by a divine strike. The curses of the oppressed have been fulfiled."

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=18279

[Gloria]

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