Support dips for US war on terror

A year after the Iraq war, anti-American views have hardened in Europe and in Muslim countries, where lopsided majorities oppose President B...

A year after the Iraq war, anti-American views have hardened in Europe and in Muslim countries, where lopsided majorities oppose President Bush and are suspicious of US motives, according to a new nine-country opinion poll. The survey, the largest of its kind, found support slipping for the US war on terrorism in most countries and negative views of the United States in all foreign countries polled except Britain. Big majorities said that the US does not consider other countries8217; interests and that Europe should develop more diplomatic and military independence.

Majorities in all foreign countries said the war in Iraq had hurt or had no effect on the war on terrorism, and only in the United States did a majority believe that Saddam Hussein8217;s ouster will make West Asia more democratic. The non-partisan Pew Research Center, which conducted the survey, said the US image in the world has never polled lower.

8216;8216;This poll says to me the discontent with America is a long-term problem that US leaders have to confront,8217;8217; poll director Andrew Kohut said. 8216;8216;We8217;ve never seen ratings as low as this for America.8217;8217; The Pew poll is three years old, and Kohut has been conducting similar surveys in Europe for two decades.

The findings add fuel to an argument over the US8217;s standing in the world sparked by last week8217;s bombings in Madrid and the subsequent election of a new Spanish government that is reconsidering that country8217;s presence in Iraq. Bush urged allies on Tuesday to remain devoted to the fight against terrorism despite the defeat of a Spanish government partly because of its support of US policy. Terrorists will 8216;8216;never shake the will of the US,8217;8217; he said in an Oval Office meeting with Dutch PM Jan Peter Balkenende. Bush said: 8216;8216;It8217;s essential that the free world remain strong and determined.8217;8217; The administration continued on Tuesday to deride Democrat presidential hopeful, John F. Kerry8217;s statement of foreign support and his refusal to name the leaders who professed support. Vice-President Dick Cheney on Tuesday, hinted that Kerry8217;s claim was disloyal. 8216;8216;The US will never seek a permission slip to defend the security of our country,8217;8217; he said. The Pew poll, conducted before the Madrid bombings, showed that Americans are increasingly inclined to agree with Cheney8217;s criticism of the UN. But the poll also broadly supported Kerry8217;s charge that foreign opinion, if not foreign leadership, is decidedly anti-Bush.

Only 55 pc of Americans had a favourable view of the UN, down from 77 pc in 2001. Public support for the world body was higher in Britain, France, Germany and Russia and lower in the Muslim countries of Turkey, Pakistan, Jordan and Morocco. Views of Bush were strikingly low in Europe and the Muslim countries. Only 14 pc of Germans, 15 pc of the French, 28 pc of Russians and 7 pc of Pakistanis viewed Bush favourably. Britons, at 39 pc, had the most enthusiastic view among foreigners.

In 1991, 75 pc of Germans and 72 pc of Russians had a favourable view of president George H.W. Bush, the current president8217;s father. 8212;LAT-WP