Nine Countries Spotlighted by Poll (Bush's plan to promote democracy)

[Lone_Star_Dem]

Guardian Unlimited

Tuesday February 22, 2005 7:46 AM

By The Associated Press


<snip>
Summaries of public attitudes about President Bush's plan to promote democracy and United States products sold in their country.

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BRITAIN: Two-thirds in Britain don't think the United States should take the role of spreading democracy. A majority, 56 percent, say they would not prefer to buy U.S. goods if the price and quality were equal, which is down slightly from 65 percent who felt that way three years ago. By a 2-1 margin, Britons disagree that U.S. products are more expensive, while people were evenly split on that question three years ago.

CANADA: By almost a 3-1 margin, Canadians don't think the United States should be trying to spread democracy and end tyranny. And by a 4-1 margin, Canadians do not prefer to buy American goods instead of other available goods if the price and quality are the same. A majority say they do not think American goods are more expensive, and by a 2-1 margin, they disagree that ``American products are not worth the money.''

FRANCE: Sharp opposition to U.S. foreign policy generally and on the war in Iraq appears to have had little effect on how the French view U.S. goods. More than eight in 10, 84 percent, say the United States should not be in the business of exporting democracy - the highest level of opposition of five European countries polled. Attitudes about U.S. products - their cost, their quality, and their desirability - have not changed much since December 2001, before the Iraq war. But by a 4-1 margin, the French say they would not rather buy American if the price and quality were similar.
<snip>
More...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4817113,00.html

It goes on the give the results for; Germany, Italy, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and the United States.

The trend continues as with the other countries. They don't want Bush brand democracy or our products.

They US was said to be at being 53 percent in disagreement with Bush brand democracy and 45 percent in agreement.

[keopeli]

1. Is it Australia or South Korea?

"The AP polls were conducted by Ipsos, an international polling firm, in Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, Spain and the United States."

But instead, South Korea is listed.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

2. It's South Korea

All the other sources list only South Korea.

[keopeli]

3. Of the 9 countries, 3 prefer American products - Mex and S.Kor and US

Spain was a tie.
--

Paraphrase of question for clarity:
Would you prefer American products of equal value?

US - 93%
Mexico - 60%
UK - 56%
Spain - 50%
South Korea - They don't agree that American products are better quality
Canada - 25%
Italy - >25%
France - 25%
Germany - 25%

--

I still haven't figured out what's wrong with South Korea...and where Australia is.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. The Guardian's copy listed Australia by accident.

AP Poll: Some doubts expressed internationally about Bush attempts to promote democracy

By WILL LESTER | Associated Press
February 22, 2005

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush is calling on European leaders to support his campaign to spread democracy abroad at a time people in many of those countries have doubts whether that should be the U.S. role in the world, Associated Press polling found.

A majority of people in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain said they thought it should not be the U.S. role to spread democracy, according to AP-Ipsos polls. A majority of those living in Canada, Mexico and South Korea also disagreed with that role.

http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/10799.html

The AP polls were conducted by Ipsos, an international polling firm, in Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Mexico, South Korea, Spain and the United States

There that should clear that up. :hi:

[LynnTheDem]

5. Isn't your list incorrect? Only 2 nations prefer US goods; US & Mexico

The UK's 56% is the number who prefer NOT to buy US goods. You've compared that to the percentages in Canada etc who WOULD prefer to buy US goods.

Countries who prefer not to buy US goods:

US 7% (93% would)
UK 56%
Canada 80%
France 80%
Germany 80%
Italy 80+%
Mexico 40% (60% would)
Spain 85%

[Rose Siding]

6. The WH told GMA that they just misunderstand Bush's plan

How nutty for people to conclude that Bush will act like Bush! :silly:

snip>
White House counselor Dan Bartlett suggested that foreigners may misunderstand Bush's plan to spread the liberties that Europeans and Americans take for granted.

"People get in their mind that spreading freedom means war and that's not the case," Bartlett said in an interview Tuesday on ABC's "Good Morning America." "Some of those opinion polls are reading in to it a little more than what President Bush intends."

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=520921&page=2

[cthrumatrix]

7. lie like a rug.... they have no interest in hearing from the "people"

[LynnTheDem]

8. Even the majority of AMERICANS disagree with US "spreading democracy"

That rightwignnut fringe minority just keeps on getting smaller and more irrelevant every day. :)

[Toots]

9. Hell even Americans don't want to buy American goods... Thanks Walmart

:shrug: It seems that if given the choice between American made or foreign made Americans choose foreign made 75% of the time.

[Say_What]

10. Amazing how in the dark US sheeple are ... America's Amnesia

From the article...

UNITED STATES: A slight majority, 53 percent, disagree with President Bush's plan to spread democracy to other countries, while just over four in 10, 45 percent, agree. More than nine in 10, 93 percent, say they would rather buy American products if the price and quality were the same.

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<clips>

America's Amnesia

...Americans are "very naïve," she says. "They don't want to see" the involvement of the United States in torture over the years. The Abu Ghraib scandal "is nothing new," she says. "This has been happening behind your eyes for many years."

The United States likes to see itself with a halo on its head, and whenever a revelation like Abu Ghraib or My Lai surfaces, U.S. citizens tend to shrug it off as an anomaly. When you look at the last fifty years of U.S. history, it is anything but.

From Greece to Iran to Indonesia to Vietnam and throughout Latin America, the U.S. government has been complicit in the torture or murder of hundreds of thousands of people.

"If we had photographs of what our so-called allies in Honduras and El Salvador and Chile were doing, based on training they had received from us in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, the American public would have been even more horrified," says Peter Kornbluh of the National Security Archive in Washington, D.C. This was torture by proxy, but it was at the direction of Washington. "The only difference between this kind of conduct now and in the past is that there wasn't somebody with a digital camera back then keeping track of what was going on," says Kornbluh.

http://www.progressive.org/july04/roth0704.html