"Harry Krause" wrote in message
...
Jim wrote:
Poll: Many think U.S. wants world domination

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By Will Lester



March 16, 2004 | WASHINGTON (AP) -- A majority of people living in
Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan and Turkey say they believe the U.S. is
conducting its campaign against terror to control Mideast oil and to
dominate the world, according to an international poll released Tuesday.

The governments in all four Muslim-majority countries have strong ties
with the U.S. government.

A sizable number of people in France, Germany and Russia also have these
suspicions about the campaign against terror, according to the Pew
Global Attitudes Project.

The polls were taken in February, before the train bombings in Spain
that claimed the lives of at least 200 people.

In a surprise defeat, Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar's
conservatives on Sunday became the first government that backed
Washington in Iraq to be voted from office.

When people in the nine countries -- including Britain and the United
States -- were asked if the campaign against terrorism was a sincere
effort to reduce international terrorism, majorities in France, Germany
and the four Muslim-majority countries felt it was not. Almost half in
Russia felt it was not, while majorities in Britain and the United
States said they believe the campaign is a sincere effort to fight
terrorism.

The surveys found considerable cynicism and anger among the
Muslim-majority countries a year after the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And
they found a growing desire among European countries for a balance of
power between the European Union and the United States.

"Europeans want to check our power," said Andrew Kohut, director of the
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. "There's considerable
support for making the European Union as powerful as the United States."

Europeans in those countries are eager to set up security arrangements
independent from the United States.

People in the surveyed Muslim countries remain angry about U.S.
policies, and even supportive of Osama bin Laden, the Saudi terrorist
who took credit for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Almost two-thirds of the people in Pakistan say they view bin Laden
favorably -- a significant finding because U.S. troops are trying to
find bin Laden in the mountainous region on the border of Pakistan and
Afghanistan. More than half of those in Jordan and almost half of those
polled in Morocco had a favorable view of the Saudi terrorist.

Anger toward the United States in these Muslim-majority countries
remains very high, Kohut said, though the intensity has dropped a bit
since last May.

While seven in 10 in the United States feel their country takes into
account the interests of other countries when making international
policy decisions, few in the other countries shared that view.

Majorities in all the countries except Pakistan, and almost half there,
felt the United States doesn't make much of an effort to consider the
interests of other countries in its policy decisions.

At least two-thirds of people living in France, Germany, Russia and
Turkey thought it would be a good thing if the European Union becomes as
powerful as the United States. Turkey and Russia are not currently
members of the European Union.

A majority of those in Britain, France, Germany, Russia and Turkey think
Western Europe should take a more independent approach to security and
diplomatic matters.

In other key findings:

--While support for the war on terrorism has dropped in many of those
countries, it has increased in Russia -- 73 percent approve -- and is
almost as strong there as in the United States.

--About half in Pakistan said suicide bombings carried out by
Palestinians against Israelis and against U.S. troops in Iraq can be
justified. Two-thirds or more in Jordan and Morocco say it can be
justified in both situations.

--A majority of the people in Pakistan and Jordan say Iraq will be worse
off now that Saddam Hussein has been removed from power.

--A solid majority of those in France, Germany, Russia, Pakistan and
Jordan believe United States President Bush and British Prime Minister
Tony Blair lied about the weapons of mass destruction they claimed were
in Iraq.

--Ratings for the United Nations are relatively high in European
countries, and low in the Muslim countries. Just over half in the United
States, 55 percent, gave a favorable rating to the U.N.

"In America, the ratings of the U.N. are much lower than elsewhere,"
said Kohut, referring to the European countries. "Historically we're at
a low point."

The polls were conducted between Feb. 19 and March 3. They have margins
of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points in Jordan,
Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Turkey and the United States. Polls in
Britain, France and Germany have a margin of error of plus or minus 5
percentage points.

------

How the international survey was conducted:

Results for the surveys in nine countries are based on telephone and
face-to-face interviews in those countries. Telephone interviews were
conducted among a nationwide sample of 1,000 adults in the United
States, 500 in Great Britain 503 in France and 500 in Germany.

Face-to-face interviews were conducted among a nationwide sample 1,000
adults in Jordan, 1,002 in Russia and 1,017 in Turkey. In Morocco, 1,000
face to face interviews were conducted with 1,000 adults in four major
cities and in Pakistan, 1,220 face-to-face interviews in largely urban
areas.

The interviews were conducted between Feb. 19 and March 3.

In countries where the sample size was more than 900 -- (the United
States, Russia, Jordan, Turkey, Morocco and Pakistan -- the margin of
sampling error was plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. In the countries
where the sample was about 500 -- Britain, France and Germany -- the
margin of error was plus or minus 5 percentage points.


There are -maybe- three world leaders who support Bush and his failed
wars against terrorisn, Iraq and Afghanistan: the prime minister of
Italy, the prime minister of Israel and, possibly, the prime minister of
Great Britain. Most of the leaders of the rest of the world's countries
would be pleased to see Bush lose the election this fall.

So what. Most Americans would be pleased if those leaders lost *their*
elections.

Americans don't like foreign countries meddling in our affairs. Kerry cut
his own throat with his "several leaders" comment. It was an enormous
political blunder. If he doesn't name names, he looks dishonest. If he
names names, and those names are leaders of countries such as France, Syria,
Iran, Russia, etc, then that'll backfire...since most Americans don't think
very highly of those leaders. It will also cause a huge rift between Kerry
and those countries.

The Dems realize the blunder and are in the midst of damage-control. I
don't have a TV in front of me, but I understand that Senator Biden is
rallying around Kerry on Chris Matthews tonight.


Neverthess, I believe you omitted from your list the names Musharraf, John
Howard, Koizumi, Leszek Miller, and several other Eastern European leaders
who are friendly to Bush.

If you look at a list of the Axis/Allied powers from WWII, you'll see that
about half of the Allied powers have broken ranks with Bush on the issue of
Iraq. However, you'll also see that at least as many of the Axis powers
stand steadfastly behind him and have agreed to leave their troops in Iraq.

It's time for new alliances. Unfortunately, it's a shame that a large-scale
terrorist attack three days before an election can cause an ally to turn
tale and run away.