View of US's global role 'worse'

[cal04]

The view of the US's role in the world has deteriorated both internationally and domestically, a BBC poll suggests.

The World Service survey, conducted in 25 nations including the US, found that three in four respondents disapproved of how Washington has dealt with Iraq.

The majority of the 26,381 respondents also disapproved of the way five other foreign policy areas have been handled.

The poll, released ahead of President Bush's State of the Union speech, was conducted between November and January.



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6286755.stm

[mike_c]

1. note how the U.S. is out of step with international opinion in every category....

This is the effect of a biased press. Americans are not getting the news and perspectives that the rest of the world is getting.

[neoblues]

2. Media Bias/Propaganda and Missing Info

Not only are Americans not getting the whole story in most cases (stories buried on page 9 in small print; stories not covered at all), but the stories they do get are exaggerated or toned down or deceptive in one way or another all the way to blatantly false (and much of it done in a coordinated, intentional way; utilizing the best techniques/tricks available in advertising/psychology/psy-ops**). We simply can't trust the information we get, such as it is and must not forget that there's much we don't even hear.

**"psy-ops" an unfortunate term; it's suggestive of secret spies/military intelligence/paranoia etc., but techniques to tell stories in a way to manipulate the thinking if the readers, especially in large groups, exists and is undoubtedly used.

[partylessinOhio]

3. Brits were duped too.

In Britain, America's strongest ally in the Iraq war, 57 per cent see US influence as mainly negative and 81 per cent disapprove of US actions in Iraq, the poll showed.

http://news.scotsman.com/international.cfm?id=115412007

[NV1962]

4. You forgot Poland!

The accompanying report with a summary of the underlying data of that news article says:

The Polish, long the European public to express the most positive feelings toward the United States, have turned sharply cooler though a plurality is still positive. The number holding a positive view of the US has dropped from 62 to 38 percent and negative views from Poland also increased significantly, up from 15 to 24 percent. Attitudes about US foreign policy are less negative in Poland than in Western European nations, though majorities still disapprove of US treatment of detainees at Guantanamo (61%) and the handling of the Iraq war (52%). More Poles than not also express disapproval about the US approach to the Israel-Hezbollah war (40% disapprove) and the issue of global warming (31% disapprove). However, attitudes about the US handling of North Korea’s nuclear program are more positive, with 39 percent approving of the US on this issue. On the issue of US military presence in the Middle East, a majority of Poles (56%) believes it provokes more conflict than it prevents, with just 16 percent seeing it as a stabilizing force.

Heckuva job Booshie!