Humiliation, not physical abuse, is worst part, Iowa Muslims say

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http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040509/NEWS11/405090353/1001/NEWS

Appears the DM Register is running a few good articles today..

Three Iowa Muslims taking a break from evening prayers nodded their heads at a startling thought: If the infamous prison photos had simply shown American soldiers beating Iraqis, this wouldn't be such a big deal.

Although torture is unacceptable under Islam, the men said, it has been depressingly common in the Mideast. Muslims would be upset about it, but not this upset. The humiliation portrayed in the pictures is vastly more disturbing than physical pain.

"The worst thing about it was the nakedness," said Sameer Yaseen, a 34-year-old Palestinian who lives in West Des Moines. "The Muslim world is so different than the Western world about nakedness and sex."

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In a medical clinic across town, Casey Clor tried to describe the depths of his heartbreak. Clor, 41, is a former Iraqi medical professor who works as a physician in Pleasant Hill. He detested Saddam Hussein, and he cheered mightily when the U.S. military invaded his homeland to oust the dictator. w, he said, he wishes the invasion had never happened. It's incredibly painful to say, but he believes his people were better off under Saddam.

"I'm so disappointed - as an American and as an Iraqi," said Clor, who fled Iraq in 1997 and has become a U.S. citizen.