Who loves America?

[child of Thor]

Not sure if this is worth some quiet contemplation by our American cousins - or maybe its just anti-american propaganda, what ya think?

Article from BBC News

[Nubclear]

Commie propaganda.

[DanS]

The irony is that attacks of all kinds against US troops in Iraq enjoy less support among Iraqis than suicide bombings against US nationals in Iraq enjoys among Turks (31% versus 17%).

http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/15_03_04_iraqsurvey.pdf

Clearly, people in some Arab countries, such as Jordan, have some real f'ed up perspectives.

[child of Thor]

Do Americans care how the world views them, or thinks of them? I dont know many Americans well, i bump into them through work from time to time, but i get the impression that they are mostly nice well mannerd people who might be alarmed at the thought of such world wide opinion?

I might be totaly wrong about this - which might make these kind of polls more depressing.

[GePap]

You actually find that a surprise DanS?

[DanS]

I never said it was a surprise. Rather, that it was an irony. Iraq is a country that we've had 2 wars with in the last decade. Turkey is a country that has been an ally for several decades.

[GePap]

Originally posted by child of Thor
Do Americans care how the world views them, or thinks of them? I dont know many Americans well, i bump into them through work from time to time, but i get the impression that they are mostly nice well mannerd people who might be alarmed at the thought of such world wide opinion?

I might be totaly wrong about this - which might make these kind of polls more depressing.

Americans think the world should love them all, and are angry the world does not-so in that sense they do not care.

You would be surprised (probably not) by all the people who think foreign aid is some massive portion of the US budget ("we send all this money to foreigners") as opposed to a fraction of a percent.

[chequita guevara]

I'm more concerned about those huge numbers for bin Laden. Our image can be repaired, once that supreme idiot is out of the White House.

I'm not certain that even another 9/11 type event here would unit the world behind us again.

[Pekka]

I call BS om this. Ask anyone about other countries adn you will recieve negative or positive comments, but the fact is most of the care doesn't give a crap. They might have an opinion when forced to answer. But at the end, it really doesn't mean anything.

I'm tired of all the 'boohoo everyone hates us' crap. Because it's not true. There are lot of people 'hating' other nations too, it's not like there's something special about it. And disagreeing is not the same as hating anyway.

[Pekka]

I mean the overall opinions and all in the world. I wouldn't know about Turkey though.

[DanS]

I might be totaly wrong about this - which might make these kind of polls more depressing.

If Iraq is any indication, Americans care, but it hasn't changed their opinions.

Or you could take a condescending view toward Americans' opinions, like GePap does.

[DanS]

I'm tired of all the 'boohoo everyone hates us' crap. Because it's not true. There are lot of people 'hating' other nations too, it's not like there's something special about it. And disagreeing is not the same as hating anyway.

While admire your Supercitizen zeal , the underlying poll (and the previous ones done by the Pew Center) answers your criticism by looking at what foreigners think about other countries in comparison to what they think about the US.

[Tuberski]

Originally posted by GePap


Americans think the world should love them all, and are angry the world does not-so in that sense they do not care.

You would be surprised (probably not) by all the people who think foreign aid is some massive portion of the US budget ("we send all this money to foreigners") as opposed to a fraction of a percent.

There you are wrong, my friend. Americans don't think the world should love them all, Americans want the world to love them but know that the world doesn't.

ACK!

[oedo]

Who loves America?

Ted Striker!
Gimme a Britney!


(I didn't read the article, I just want the obvious)

[-Jrabbit]

A sad statement. Sadder still that I find it difficult to doubt its accuracy.

When a powerful nation can't enlist the aid, trust, or respect of its allies, it's hard not to read it as a global indictment of its foreign policy.

Looking at record deficits -- both trade and budget -- while seeing my government drop a $billion/day to continue a questionable war while wasting months trying to come up with an exit strategy -- well, it doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

One thing near the end of the article stands out...

Even the Bush administration accepts that they need some kind of multilateral support for its policies such as expanding international support for the military commitment in Iraq.

While the administration sees the problem per se, they don't seem to understand that the (lack of) content and forethought in their Iraq policy precludes most nations from even considering lending support.

Failure to buffalo world opinion into equating Iraq with Al Qaeda was expected. Making Bin Laden a hero-martyr to the Muslim world was easily predicted. But the seeming inability to react and do something about it in an election year is a continuing mystery.