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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Huang who wrote (4866)	4/28/2004 11:21:10 PM
From: Ed Huang	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 22250

Even the US main stream media admitted fewer than half of the Americans support the Iraq war nowadays. -------------------------------------------------- Bush's Approval Rating at All-Time Low -Poll Wed Apr 28, 2004 08:40 PM ET NEW YORK (Reuters) - President Bush's approval rating is at an all-time low and fewer than half of Americans now believe invading Iraq was the right thing to do, according to a CBS/New York Times poll released on Wednesday. The poll found that if the presidential election due in November was held today, 46 percent of Americans would vote for Democrat John Kerry and 44 percent would vote for Bush -- if independent Ralph Nader stayed out of the race. The poll, with a sampling error of 3 percentage points, was conducted among 1,042 adults nationwide from Friday to Tuesday during a spate of fierce fighting in Iraq. More than 115 U.S. soldiers have been killed in combat this month. "Just 32 percent, the lowest number ever, say Iraq was a threat that required immediate military action a year ago," the poll reported. "Less than half, 47 percent, now say the United States did the right thing taking military action in Iraq, the lowest support recorded in CBS News/New York Times polls since the war began." The poll said the Iraq war appeared to have hurt assessments of Bush -- his overall approval rating (46 percent), his rating on handling Iraq (41 percent) and his rating on handling foreign policy (40 percent) "are at the lowest points ever in this administration." "His approval rating has dropped five points from early March, before the start of intense new fighting in Iraq. Immediately after the fall of Baghdad a year ago, 67 percent of Americans approved of the job Bush was doing as president," the poll said. In March last year, at the time of the invasion, nearly seven in 10 Americans thought it was the right thing to do. The poll said 56 percent of Americans thought Bush was "mostly telling the truth but still hiding something" when he spoke to them about Iraq. It said 61 percent of respondents now believed the administration did not try hard enough to reach a diplomatic solution before going to war in Iraq -- a reversal of the public's belief last year during the war. The poll said six in 10 Americans approved of Bush's handling of the threat of terrorism and 39 percent approved of his handling of the economy. It said the economy and jobs were at the top of the list of issues voters wanted to hear the candidates discuss ahead of the Nov. 2 election. "But the war in Iraq, although still in second place, is now mentioned by one-in-five voters, a 10-point jump from 11 percent six weeks ago, and the highest it has ever been since the CBS News/ New York Times Poll began asking this question last December." The poll said three-quarters of respondents had already decided who to vote for in November. "If ... Nader is included on the ballot in November and the election were held today, 41 percent of voters would vote for Kerry; 43 percent would vote for Bush. Nader would draw 5 percent of the vote, mostly at the expense of Kerry, who holds a two-point edge in the two-way contest." reuters.com

To: Ed Huang who wrote (4866)	4/29/2004 7:04:51 AM
From: Pogeu Mahone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 22250

You Jew haters can learn from this: Ending a 'Deadly Hate' of Jews At Berlin Forum, Powell and Other Diplomats Pledge Vigilance By Peter Slevin Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, April 29, 2004; Page A21 BERLIN, April 28 -- Delegates from 55 countries gathered Wednesday in the former heart of the Third Reich to pledge vigilance against resurgent anti-Semitism in Europe. They plan to endorse increased public education to refute stereotypes and to expand the collection and sharing of data about anti-Semitic incidents. Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, flew to Berlin with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell aboard a U.S. Air Force jet to plead for the world to "stop the poison from spreading." "The Jew I am belongs to a traumatized generation," Wiesel told 500 delegates to the Conference on Anti-Semitism. "We have antennas. Better yet, we are antennas. If we tell you that the signals we receive are disturbing, that we are alarmed . . . people had better listen." Israeli President Moshe Katsav declared that "European leaders have done a lot lately, but not enough." Powell said anti-Semitism is "not just a fact of history, but a current event." An opinion poll released this week by the U.S.-based Anti-Defamation League found that large numbers of Europeans are still suspicious of Jews, although overall attitudes in many countries have improved. The poll also confirmed widespread opposition in Europe to the policies of Israel in its conflict with the Palestinians. The two-day conference, sponsored by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, convened at a time of increased violence against Jews in Europe. Delegates discussed the degree to which young Muslim immigrants angry over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are to blame for the upsurge, and what role traditional anti-Semitic groups such as neo-Nazis are playing. Hans Winkler, head of the Austrian delegation, cited a "new form of violence against Jews, which has to do with the basic conflict between Jews and Arabs, and the deadly hate." He said, "those countries that have a large Muslim community are obviously more in danger of falling victim to this sort of thing." The Munich-based newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung wrote Wednesday of a "new anti-Semitism" growing as a result of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's policies. "Whoever talks about anti-Semitism today is not talking about a few scattered neo-Nazis in Germany," the newspaper said. "Most often, the anti-Semitism comes without violence: Sharon is drawn in caricatures with a Star of David. Palestinian president Yasser Arafat is shown wearing concentration camp clothes." Powell told delegates in a short speech that hate crimes against Jews had increased in recent years. He said the United States "has its share of anti-Semites and skinheads and other assorted racists, bigots and extremists who feed on fear and ignorance and prey on the vulnerable." Criticism of Israel is permissible, but there must be boundaries, said Powell, who spoke at a celebration of Israeli independence in Washington on Tuesday before departing for Berlin. "It is not anti-Semitic to criticize the policies of the state of Israel," said Powell. "But the line is crossed when Israel or its leaders are demonized or vilified, for example, by the use of Nazi symbols and racist caricatures." During a break, two Danish delegates discussed the implications of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on anti-Semitism. "There are many people saying that the growing anti-Semitism in Europe is fueled by the Middle East conflict," said Ole Olsen. "But I have not heard anyone taking the consequences of this and saying, 'Then we have to solve this conflict.' " Olsen added: "Every attack on a Jew is one too much." The other Danish delegate, Marianne Beck-Nielsen, replied: "But every attack on a Palestinian is one too much." In a survey of attitudes in 10 European countries, the Anti-Defamation League found that the percentage of people with anti-Semitic attitudes had declined in many countries in recent years. In France, the proportion declined to 25 percent of respondents from 35 percent in 2002, while in Spain it was down to 24 percent from 34 percent. The figure in Italy fell to 15 percent from 23 percent. But in Germany, the percentage with anti-Semitic views held roughly steady at 36 percent. The percentage increased in Britain from 18 percent to 24 percent and in the Netherlands from 7 percent to 9 percent. The ADL measured attitudes by seeking responses to such statements as "Jews are more loyal to Israel than to this country" and "Jews are more willing than others to use shady practices to get what they want." Attitudes toward Israel have become more critical in the same period. Only 34 percent of respondents believe Israel wants to reach agreement with the Palestinians, compared with 40 percent in 2002. About 26 percent said Israel is more responsible for the violence in the region, while 14 percent said Palestinians were more responsible. Special correspondent Shannon Smiley contributed to this report. © 2004 The Washington Post Company