"We have been unable to make the case against bin Laden with Muslims because they see the United States as a threat," Kohut said

WASHINGTON, June 4 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Despite an intensive U.S. public diplomacy campaign, anti-U.S. sentiments were fanned by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, with Washington widely perceived as a threat, a leading U.S. newspaper reported Wednesday, June 4, citing a survey released Tuesday.

The public perceptions of the United States have slumped over the past year all over the world, with favorable ratings down to as low as 1 percent in Jordan and the Palestinian territories, said the Washington Post.

The survey, conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project, showed that the United States is losing a propaganda war, spurred by the 9-11 attacks, to win the hearts and minds of millions of Arabs, added the daily.

"We have gone from bad to worse over the past year," said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, asserting hostility toward the U.S. has increased as a result of the invasion of Iraq.

Bin Laden Beats Bush 

The poll also illustrated increasingly divergent political perceptions between Muslim and Western countries on issues ranging from the popularity of Osama bin Laden to whether the Iraqi people will be better off without Saddam Hussein.

According to the survey, al-Qaeda leader inspires more confidence than U.S. President Bush across much of the Arab and Muslim world.

"We have been unable to make the case against bin Laden with Muslims because they see the United States as a threat," Kohut said.

The percentage of people expressing "a lot of confidence" or "some confidence" in bin Laden was higher than similar ratings for Bush in the Palestinian territories (71 percent to 1 percent), Morocco (49 percent to 2 percent), Jordan (55 percent to 1 percent), Indonesia (58 percent to 8 percent) and Turkey (15 percent to 8 percent), the Post said.

The only Arab countries where Bush outscored bin Laden were Lebanon (17 percent to 14 percent) and Kuwait (62 percent to 19 percent).

But the American survey suggested little correlation between support for bin Laden and the boycott of American ideas and cultural products.

People who expressed a favorable opinion of bin Laden were just as likely to appreciate American technology and cultural products as people opposed to bin Laden, Kohut said.

Pro- and anti-bin Laden respondents also differed in their views regarding the workability of Western-style democracy in the Arab world.

State Department officials argue the downtrend will reverse itself once the Bush administration is able to show progress in key areas, such as reconstructing Iraq and re-launching the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

But Kohut is not so sure. "These are deeply held views," he asserted.

"If there is progress in the peace process, things are likely to improve, but we have a long way to go to rebuild trust toward the United States in the Middle East."

The nosedive in U.S. popularity, the poll showed, varies from country to another.

In Britain, 70 percent of respondents expressed a positive view of the United States, compared with 75 percent last year.

In Canada, the favorable rating for the United States was 63 percent, down from 72 percent; in Russia, 36 percent, down from 71 percent; in Indonesia, 15 percent, down from 61 percent; and in Jordan, 1 percent, down from 25 percent.

The survey was conducted April 28 to May 15 among 16,000 interviewees across 20 countries and in the Palestinian territories.

The U.S. has recently launched an intensive media and diplomacy campaign in a bid to promote its policies to an increasingly skeptical global audience.

This included a "media outreach" campaign featuring interviews with Secretary of State Colin Powell and other U.S. officials, launching radio stations mixing news and popular music (Sawa radio) aimed at young Arabs, and a $15 million television advertising drive showcasing the achievements of Arab Americans.