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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (172035)	10/5/2005 8:01:54 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

How does the war in Iraq defend the United States? Didn't help London, did it?

To: Brumar89 who wrote (172035)	10/6/2005 6:30:05 PM
From: Sun Tzu	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

I guess they don't hate us out of envy and for our freedom after all! ...The key data in all this drama is what the people who live in the Middle East themselves think. A very helpful guide is a study on Middle Eastern public opinion - conducted in Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine - and released by the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of Jordan. The results are devastating. One of the most important findings is that the Arab street does not identify a "clash of civilizations"; they identify their woes as direct consequences of British colonialism and US foreign policy. In the poll the qualifications most associated with the US and the UK were "racist", "aggressive", "morally decadent" and "imperialistic". People were always very careful to note that they admired Western societies for their open atmosphere, individual liberties and technical progress, but they certainly don't envy the West's social problems. People in the Middle East are proud of their family and traditions. Their anger is fundamentally directed towards Anglo-American foreign policy. A majority considers that the US is run by a "Zionist lobby". Over 70% complain that the US and the UK try to dominate countries through the offer of foreign aid. And crucially, less than 20% of Egyptians, Syrians and Palestinians see the US as supporting democracy in the region. American and British policy in Iraq and US bias in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are almost universally rejected. Distrust of America is even higher among Middle Eastern youth. Only 15% to 20% of young people between the ages of 16 and 24 have anything good to say about the US. The majority supports Sharia law as a source for legislation. But only a tiny minority said they wanted a Taliban-like interpretation of Islamic law. How is "terrorism" defined in the Middle East? For over 85% of the population in four of the five countries polled (64% in Lebanon), the US war on Iraq was an act of terrorism. Ninety percent in all countries polled say that Israel's killing of Palestinian civilians is terrorism. Hamas and Hezbollah are not terrorist groups: they are regarded as legitimate resistance organizations. For a majority of Jordanians and Palestinians, even al-Qaeda's fight is legitimate. And to top it all, the US is also seen as a major violator of human rights. The majority of people polled had just a simple wish: if only the Americans would leave us alone... atimes.com