Dubious Allies.(A)(EDITORIALS)

Media: The press in the Arab world seems to be in a competition to see who can be most anti-American while covering the war in Iraq.

With few exceptions, Arab media outlets put America in the worst light possible, showing footage of battered Iraqi civilians, smoking ruins and hospitalized children.

In fact, the Muslim media's portrayal of the U.S. in Iraq is just the tip of the anti-American iceberg. The depth of contempt and hatred is astonishing, including from the "moderate" Arab states, countries traditionally viewed as our friends.

If anything, the incitement in their media has increased since 9-11. Recently, former Egyptian Minister of War Amin Huweidi compared President Bush to Adolf Hitler.

In Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, both government-owned and quasi-independent newspapers -- not that there is much difference, since there is no genuine freedom of the press -- consistently show America as an "oppressor," "enslaver" or, as one Saudi columnist put it, "the civilization that arose on the skulls of others."

Other themes emerge. One is the joy at American suffering. Egypt's opposition daily Al Asbu, whose sentiments on 9-11 are indistinguishable from those of the government-controlled press, printed on Sept. 17, 2001: "(Those moments of) exquisite, ...