Between the Lines Q&A
A weekly column featuring progressive viewpoints
on national and international issues
under-reported in mainstream media
for release March 29, 2004
World Public Opinion Poll
Reveals Growing Hostility Toward
America and Its Foreign Policy
Interview with Ed Bice,
executive director of
People's Opinion Project,
conducted by Scott Harris
A recent survey conducted in European and Arab nations by the Pew
Global Attitudes Project, has found increasing hostility toward America
and its foreign policy. The public opinion poll titled, "A Year After the
Iraq War: Mistrust of America in Europe Ever Higher, Muslim Anger Persists,"
revealed that antagonism for the U.S. has intensified among the people
of France, Germany and Britain. This comes as there is growing support in
Europe for foreign and military policies more independent of the United
States.
In Muslim countries surveyed, resentment against the U.S. is pervasive.
Majorities of those polled in four Muslim nations doubt the sincerity of
the U.S. war on terrorism and believe instead that Washington's policies
are aimed at controlling Middle East Oil and to dominate the world. More alarmingly,
Osama bin Laden is viewed favorably by large percentages of people in Pakistan,
Jordan and Morocco. The recent Israeli assassination of the wheelchair-bound
Hamas spiritual leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin has undoubtedly deepened the already
burning rage against America in the Arab and Muslim world.
Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with Ed Bice, executive director
of the People's Opinion Project, who examines the Pew Center's polling
data, what it means for America's standing in the world and why there is
such a wide gap between world and U.S. public opinion.
Ed Bice: According to the Pew Poll, what we've done is to have
alienated every one of the countries surveyed in the Pew Poll -- have found
that the United States was untrustworthy following the events in Afghanistan
and in Iraq. An across-the-board feeling in these nations surveyed (found)
that America's intentions were not solid and we seemed to have alienated
our friends and enemies alike. So, it's not good news for America and Americans.
Between The Lines: Maybe you could take a look at Europe, first
of all, and discuss for us what the opinion poll found among the populace
in Germany and France as the two major nations that opposed the U.S. war
in Iraq.
Ed Bice: In France and Germany, we have 85 percent
unfavorable rating for George Bush. Britain lags behind, still at 57 percent.
Russia, 60 percent, and in the Muslim nations, Jordan, 96 percent of the
respondents had an unfavorable view of George Bush. Now this isn't so
surprising based on what we've seen across the world in response to our
war in Iraq. But what a lot of people don't realize, Scott, is that just
two years ago, we had 52 percent of Jordanians with a favorable view of
the United States. It's really stunning to see what has happened to world
opinion of the United States. We had a tremendous amount of goodwill and
sympathy following 9/11 and we haven't just squandered it, it's completely
disintegrated according to these polling returns. We've lost the good will
and then some. So it's a very discouraging picture.
Between The Lines: In these opinion polls, questions are asked
regarding the motivation of the United States and its war in Iraq. Go
into some detail there about oil and the role that many people across
the globe feel that valuable resource played in George Bush's administration's
decision to declare war on Baghdad.
Ed Bice: Yeah, the Pew researchers asked people who expressed
doubts about the U.S. sincerity to answer to what they thought our motives
might have been, and oil was mentioned most often. We’ve got majorities
in every nation surveyed -- with the exception of Britain and the U.S. --
majorities saying that controlling Middle East oil was the primary concern,
with 71 percent of Jordanians thinking this was the real motivation.
George Bush has taken great efforts to put forward this notion that
this is a great victory for democracy. It appears from the results of this
poll that the people are not buying that. His sell on that is not convincing
the people of the world that the U.S. had good intentions.
One interesting statistic out of the poll is that if Osama bin Laden
were a candidate in a democratic election -- and this is me extrapolating
from the poll -- but, we can think that if Osama bin Laden were
a candidate for office in Pakistan that he would be a serious contender.
Sixty-five percent of respondents in Pakistan had a favorable rating of
Osama bin Laden. A majority also in Jordan at 55 percent. We have done nothing
to marginalize the worst of the terrorists. We have, it seems, only aided
his cause in terms of international public opinion.
Between The Lines: Ed Bice in closing here, tell our audience
about the great gap between world public opinion, about the war in Iraq
-- the success or failure of the Bush administration in the war against
terrorism that we see here -- the gap between world opinion and that here
in the United States.
Ed Bice: There's a tremendous disconnect between how people
of America view our perception in the world, and how people in the world
perceive us.
A full 70 percent of Americans asked in the Pew Center poll whether
the United States had the interests of foreign countries in mind when making
foreign policy decisions. Seventy percent of respondents said, "Yes, our
foreign policy decisions are made with concern for the interest of people
in other countries."
There's a dramatic disconnect. This question was asked of the people
in the other countries in this poll, and the percentages are well below
half in the 30 percent -- 40 percent range on the high end, of people who
consider America to have their best interest in mind.
We are an island when it comes to global opinion. We at the People's
Opinion Project feel that American foreign policy is going to remain ineffective
until we have a better understanding of our standing in the world and how
we are regarded.
Contact the People's Opinion Project by calling (415) 488-0618 or visit
their website at www.thepop.org.
Visit our Between The Lines Newswire regularly at www.btlonline.org to read other in-depth
news stories that are under-reported or ignored in the corporate media.
Scott Harris, executive producer of Between The Lines, which can be
heard on over 35 radio stations. This interview excerpt was featured on
the award-winning, syndicated weekly radio newsmagazine, Between The Lines
(http://www.btlonline.org), for the week ending April 2, 2004. This Between
The Lines Q&A was compiled by Anna Manzo and Scott Harris.