US more unpopular in the Arab world than under Bush

[xchrom]

http://www.salon.com/news/middle_east/index.html?story=/opinion/greenwald/2011/07/13/arabs

I've written numerous times over the last year about rapidly worsening perceptions of the U.S. in the Muslim world, including a Pew poll from April finding that Egyptians view the U.S. more unfavorably now than they did during the Bush presidency. A new poll released today of six Arab nations -- Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco -- contains even worse news on this front:

The hope that the Arab world had not long ago put in the United States and President Obama has all but evaporated.

Two and a half years after Obama came to office, raising expectations for change among many in the Arab world, favorable ratings of the United States have plummeted in the Middle East, according to a new poll conducted by Zogby International for the Arab American Institute Foundation.

In most countries surveyed, favorable attitudes toward the United States dropped to levels lower than they were during the last year of the Bush administration . . . Pollsters began their work shortly after a major speech Obama gave on the Middle East . . . Fewer than 10 percent of respondents described themselves as having a favorable view of Obama.

[hobbit709]

1. Maybe if we stopped bombing Muslims they'd have a better opinion of us.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

17. ...not to mention all the anti-Islamic and Muslim hate rhetoric coming from the wingnuts

and allowed even by many Democrats.

Why shouldn't they hate us? We demonize their culture, religion, and choose sides!

[closeupready]

21. You see it even right here on DU all the time. Clearly,

Islamophobia has gone prime-time, unfortunately.

[hifiguy]

2. Well, we ARE bombing more Arab countries now

than we were under Chimpoleon. How could someone as seemingly smart as Obama manage to make Little Boots look good? By listening to the same neo-cons, apparently.

[WatsonT]

3. That was quick

[grasswire]

4. oh great

who could have imagined this?

[Cali_Democrat]

5. Well that's what happens when you expand the defense budget and attacks

against Muslim countries.

Also, attacking Libya and expanding the campaign against Yemen does us no favors. It only serves to increase animosity.

It's not exactly rocket science.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Replacing neo-cons with neo-libs will have that effect.

[xchrom]

12. that's what i was thinking -- also any 'popularity'

we had in the arab world w/ bush was probably illusory.

this is just more accurate.

[LeftinOH]

7. Have we ever been remotely popular in the Middle East? Since 1947, that is. n/t

[Quantess]

26. Not that I can recall, no.

Except for Saudia Arabia and Israel, no.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

8. That's because Dumbya did nothing to put a stop to terrorism. He coddled terrorists.

We now have a president who is at least trying to do something, whether you agree with the war or not.

Disclaimer: Of course, I oppose attacks and killing of innocent civilians!

[pscot]

15. Our bombs are dropped with good intentions

(See Road to Hell, pavement)

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

16. That shit is not funny!

[EFerrari]

20. Humanitarian aid for Libya

[Bozita]

29. Freedom Bombs?

[The Straight Story]

9. That will change once Obama converts us all to Islam. RW keeps telling me it will happen any day now

:)

[pscot]

25. The Swedes gave him a peace prize

Anyone can make a mistake.

[Lint Head]

10. But, but, but Obama is suppose to be a Muslim right?

[AngryAmish]

11. Well we are going to have to bomb some more then...

Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Agghanistan, Pakistan...who wants some?

[xchrom]

13. you are not sufficiently terrified of the terrorists!

:evilgrin:

[Bragi]

14. Drone attacks will continue till support increases /nt

[spanone]

18. and when we DO get out they will hate us more for how we've left them.....

it's a lose, lose, lose, lose situation

[Cali_Democrat]

19. What makes u say that?

They will hate us even more if we stop bombing, launching missiles and occupying Muslim countries?

[EFerrari]

22. What gives you that idea?

I don't think Viet Nam ever said, come back.

Afghanistan was left a mess after the proxy war but they didn't want us back, either.

[pampango]

23. I don't see in the story whether Obama's unpopularity is based on his doing too much or too little

to support democratic movements there.

There was an Egytian poll discussed here last month indicating that Egyptians didn't trust our motives because we had not done much to support their revolution or uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world. Obviously Bush did nothing to promote democracy in the Middle East, but people there had low expectation regarding that and he met them.

Obama has seemingly raised the bar as far as expectations of American support for democracy movements there, but there may be disillusionment at the perception that we have not "walked the walk" when it comes to supporting the Arab Spring.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/06/25/116485/us-fares-poorly-in-first-modern.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_term=news

Results already are out from three major scientific surveys — the Pew Research Center, Gallup and International Republican Institute — as well as from a rash of informal polls conducted by nonprofit groups, local newspaper websites and blogs.

Two-thirds of Egyptians disagreed that the United States is serious about encouraging democracy in the Middle East and North Africa, according to Gallup, perhaps an indication of public frustration over the U.S. government's perceived muted or belated support for Arab Spring uprisings.

These polls in Egypt seem to indicate that some of the US' unpopularity is due to the perception that we didn't do enough to help Egyptians and are not doing so elsewhere in the Middle East now.

[originalpckelly]

24. Well, that's what killing a 5 or 6 kids a month with predator drones will get ya'.

I know I probably wouldn't be too fond of a nation that would do that here in America, now would you?

[ProSense]

27. Greenwald pushing a Zogby poll?

:rofl:

[Theo Haffey]

32. He pushes Pew polls, too

And those are not particularly rosy either: http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/04/26/egypt/index.html

[tekisui]

33. Can you cite the fallacy of the Zogby poll?

There have been other recent polls that confirm this sentiment. In Pakistan, for example, the US is hated by a vast majority.

[MouseFitzgerald]

28. What sort of weird person in the middle east...

actually likes us? How could someone honestly say they view us positively when we flat out dont give a shit what they think. The people of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Yemen dont want us there and they have made that very clear.

[Rex]

30. Well, we are at war with a few of them...not that surprised.

[amborin]

31. the hypocrisy factor always hurts, too

[QC]

34. kick