Ties between the United States and its ally Egypt are on a downward spiral, judging by the increasingly hostile tone of the Cairo press against Washington's policies in the Middle East. Newspapers have opted for the direct approach, rather than the normal diet of subtle and implicit criticism with which Cairo editorialists normally seek to preserve good relations with Washington. Several government newspapers have been looking forward to the prospect of US President George W. Bush failing to win a second term at the White House in November elections. "Killer", "Criminal" and "Liar" are all terms with which Bush has been liberally branded, both in the government and opposition press. The president's list of sins is almost endless on the Israeli-Palestinian front as well as the Iraqi conflict, as far as newspapers are concerned in Egypt, despite its traditional role as a pro-US moderate in the Arab camp. Bush's keen endorsement of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral policies only compounded Arab anger over Israel's assassination of successive Hamas leaders, Ahmed Yassin and Abdelaziz al-Rantissi. The documented abuse of Iraqi prisoners at Baghdad's US-run Abu Ghraib jail -- complete with authentic and fake pictures splashed across Cairo's front pages -- has only added oil to the fire. Bush's reference to major Jewish settlements in the West Bank as "facts on the ground" and support for Israel's rejection of the right of return of Palestinian refugees were nothing short of a slap in the face for Egypt. President Hosni Mubarak was still in Washington and completely taken by surprise by the new American position, announced after talks between Bush and Sharon at the White House. Among the government newspapers, Al-Gumhuriya said the "mercenaries" at Abu Ghraib had "aborted the US plans of a Greater Middle East initiative" for democratic reforms in the region. Bush's "sole concern is to spread to the whole region the democracy which he has started to implement in Iraq, in all its details, including violation" of human rights," said another daily, Al-Akhbar. Al-Mussawar said the behaviour of US marines in Iraq "proves that the hatred against Arabs and Muslims is strong ... "This fact can not be isolated from the campaign waged by the US administration against Muslims after the September 11, 2001" terror attacks, wrote the paper's editor-in-chief, Makram Mohammed Ahmed. "In Iraq, the United States has won several tactical battles ... but they have failed strategically by transforming the majority of the Iraqi people into an enemy," he said.