The latest pool in Americans confidence in their governments foreign policy was released Wednesday by a non-partisan group, Public Agenda, and Foreign
Affairs journal. It clearly shows, five years after the 9/11 attacks, the U.S. public has become increasingly anxious about world events and the role
that their country is playing in them. According to "Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy" survey nearly 80 percent of respondents believe the world
is becoming more dangerous for the U.S. and its citizens. A 43-percent plurality said it was becoming "much more dangerous". The survey queried
1,001 randomly chosen adults Sep. 5-18, the same week that George W. Bush made of number of high-profile appearances to commemorate the fifth
anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and defend the continued U.S. presence in Iraq.
www.ipsnews.net
The survey, which was overseen by legendary pollster Daniel Yankelovich, found a substantial rise in concern about how the U.S. is perceived in the
world and particularly in predominantly Muslim countries, compared to the last survey, which was conducted in January.
Nearly 90 percent of respondents said they considered it a threat to U.S. national security when "the rest of the world sees the United States" in a
negative light.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said the world currently feels either "somewhat" or "very" negatively toward the country, while nearly four in
five said they believe the country is seen as "arrogant".
"It's not just a matter of (wanting to be) well-loved or nice," stressed Yankelovich in a conference call for journalists Tuesday. "People see it
as threatening to our national security."
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Surveys tend to be somewhat superficial and with only 1 out of 300.000 to represent the population as such, one can question their credibility. This
one "Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index" seems to be of the more credible and non-partisan kind.
"We didn't ask people about the president or about Republicans versus Democrats, as so many polls routinely do. Instead we asked people to think
about how the country is doing overall. And the message for the country's leadership suggests that the public considers these major issues and
political leaders ignore them at their peril", says Ruth A. Wooden of
Public
Agenda, the publisher of Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index.
The pool and the timing of its release is become interesting by its subject being the far single biggest obstacle to Republican chances of retaining
control of both houses of Congress in the Nov. 7 elections. Other polls this month have consistently shown that nearly two-thirds of the public
disapproves in the Bush way of handling the war.
What is alarming of this one, is a definite tipping point have been reached concerning the casualty toll in Iraq. Last January the survey also did,
but in addition to the Iraq issue, a "tipping point" was also reached on the importance of reducing U.S. dependence on foreign energy supplies, with
a percentage saying they "worry a lot" about that problem sliding from 55 percent to 46 percent in the latest poll. Iraq now overshadows the
concerns of the cost of gas.
Two other issues have been close to a "tipping point" earlier this year, illegal immigration and preventing jobs from moving overseas, but they too
have receded over the past nine months. According to the survey, because fears of new terrorist attack and growing hatred of the U.S. in Muslim
countries have grown.
Iraq is now solely on the mind of Americans.
As a footnote this survey coincides with George Bush - for the first time public - to George Stephanopoulos of ABC News have admitted Iraq to be
comparable with Vietnam. Asked the question whether he agreed with New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman, who wrote that the real "October
surprise" of this campaign season is what "seems like the jihadist equivalent of the Tet offensive." Bush nodded.
"He could be right," the president replied.
washingtonpost.com
GREENSBORO, N.C., Oct. 18 -- President Bush said Wednesday that the current surge of violence in Iraq "could be" comparable to the Tet Offensive
during the Vietnam War, a succession of battles that became a milestone because it helped turn the American public against the conflict and its
political leadership.
Bush has strongly resisted comparisons between Iraq and Vietnam, but with U.S. casualties continuing to mount, he agreed to an interviewer's analogy
and said he detected a spike in attacks timed to the congressional elections in three weeks with the goal of forcing the United States to lose its
will.
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Related News Links:
www.publicagenda.org
Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
politics.abovetopsecret.com...
politics.abovetopsecret.com...
[edit on 19-10-2006 by UM_Gazz]
[edit on 19/10/06 by khunmoon]
