The biblical book of Proverbs reminds us that "righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34 ).

As I write this, President Bush is giving two interviews to Arab-language television stations in an attempt at damage control.

The Arab world is incensed at pictures of Iraqi prisoners being sexually abused and humiliated while naked, involuntarily posing for photographs taken with gloating U.S. servicemen.

American leaders have expressed horror and shame at these incidents. These apologies are not likely to change Arab public opinion, which is increasingly anti-American.

Only a few weeks ago the president of Egypt, ironically the second-biggest recipient of U.S. aid, proclaimed America "this most hated of nations." His words are reminiscent of a prophecy in Deuteronomy 28, a chapter that promises God's blessings for obedience and warns of the inevitable curses that come from disobedience to God's laws. As a nation turns away from God, it will "become troublesome to all the kingdoms of the earth" (verse 25).

U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said in a television interview that the American servicemen and servicewomen responsible for these atrocities were not typical of Americans serving in the military and that their behavior was not the norm in the United States .

Almost certainly this is true for Mr. Rumsfeld's generation. But is it true for all Americans?

Some time ago, the host of ABC television's popular Nightline program, Ted Koppel, related an incident that happened to him at a U.S. airport. On his arrival, a member of the public recognized him and came forward asking for his autograph. While signing, he saw that a fellow passenger was mobbed by people as he got off the plane, also requesting his autograph.

Mr. Koppel didn't recognize the passenger and inquired as to who was receiving all this attention.

He was informed that the man was a famous American porn-movie star -and clearly, based on the crowd's reaction, this man was a lot more famous than Mr. Koppel. Obviously, among the passengers at that airport, more people were familiar with this adult-movie star than were familiar with the host of U.S. television's most serious nightly news program.

But Mr. Koppel made another astute observation-that there was no sense of shame or embarrassment among those surrounding the porn star and requesting his autograph. They were quite open, in public, about the fact that they all watched his movies.

A whole generation (or two) has grown up since the legalization of pornography 35 years ago. For more than 10 years porn has been widely available on the web where even children can easily access the material. Is it any wonder that U.S. servicemen should submit captured prisoners to the same humiliating sexual acts that they may have seen on film or the Internet thousands of times?

Should we be shocked that one of the acts they made Iraqi prisoners simulate would become known to the whole world as having been shamelessly performed in the Oval office of the White House several years ago during the formative teenage years of these same soldiers?

Is there any wonder that terrorists, most notably Osama bin Laden, have exploited this sexual depravity to their own advantage? One of the principal reasons given by the al-Qaeda's leader in his "Letter to America" for the attacks on 9/11 was the shameful sexual sins committed in the White House, acts for which he held all the American people responsible.

His reasoning was that since the United States is a democracy, its people choose their leaders-and since they chose an immoral leader, they share the blame for such immoral conduct. Millions of Muslims agree with his assessment.

Undoubtedly the shameful acts forced on these Iraqi prisoners will incur a heavy price on other military personnel serving in that country. More seriously, they have exposed the hypocrisy of a nation that, while historically committed to human rights, has become the leading producer of pornography-in which Americans shamelessly perform debasing sexual acts for the entertainment of people around the world, a degrading trade in "bodies and souls of men"(Revelation 18:13).

A friend of mine who is a U.S. Marine and whose unit recently served in Iraq informed me that Iraqis are capitalizing on the sexual weaknesses of American servicemen, providing them with a night's "entertainment"with a female for $300. Their religion forbids them using Iraqi women for such purposes, so instead they bring in women from Eastern Europe and Russia, some of whom may be there against their will.

This is in stark contrast to World War II, when Congress refused to authorize the distribution of condoms to American GIs for fear it would encourage immorality.

In World War II, remember, Americans were considered the good guys. Today, the United States is perceived in the Islamic world as "the great Satan."

Although many factors contribute to this perception, the embarrassing lack of morality among some U.S. troops-who are a product of the prevailing American culture-has now tragically emerged as a factor in the ongoing War on Terror.