The rationale behind Iraq invasion was - and still – unclear

LONDON, June 17 (ISlamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A fresh poll conducted by the BBC showed that the U.S.-British invasion against Iraq and the policies of U.S. President George W. Bush was disapproved in 11 countries.

Questioning 11,000 people in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East and Australia, the publicly funded UK broadcaster found that 57 per cent had an unfavorable attitude to the U.S. president, Financial Times reported Tuesday, June 17.

The figure rose to 60 per cent when responses by Americans were excluded.

A majority of those questioned in the poll, which covered U.S. political, economic, military and cultural influence, opposed the invasion of Iraq, including more than 80 per cent of Russian respondents and 63 per cent in France.

The poll showed attitudes to the U.S. splitting mainly along the lines adopted by national governments.

More than 70 per cent of U.S. and Israeli participants supported the Iraq invasion, along with 54 per cent of Britons. The invasion was launched by the U.S. and British forces, while Israel is a key ally to Washington.

Asked whether What the World Thinks of America, the program about the poll, would be shown in the U.S., where it broadcasts through public service networks and its BBC America cable channel, the BBC declined to comment.

Results of the survey, conducted last month, illustrated deeply divergent views on U.S. foreign policy between Americans and other nationalities.

Among its findings, the survey found that 70 per cent of international respondents felt the U.S. military had failed to do enough to minimize civilian casualties.

"However, 70 per cent of American respondents said other countries did not appreciate how much America does to avoid civilian casualties," according to a BBC statement.

The U.S. and British forces launched their aggression on Iraq on March 20, allegedly to find the Arab country’s weapons of mass destruction.

Two months after the U.S. forces rolled into Baghdad and declared the ouster of Saddam Hussein’s regime, no such banned weapons have been found, raising speculations that the invasion was launched on a false pretext.

A poll published by The Times June 14 poll found that most Britons believe London and Washington deliberately exaggerated evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in order to garner support for the invasion.

In another survey conducted by the Pew Search Centre published earlier in June, majorities of citizens in seven of eight Islamic countries surveyed said they fear a U.S. military attack.

Only Americans

Only U.S. respondents showed a majority view in favor of the country's policy on Israel and Palestine.

Washington is widely seen in many countries as a mediator biased towards Israel in its peace efforts to end the more than 50-year-long occupation of Palestinian territories.

On Monday, June 16, the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset, voted for the non-implementation of the U.S.-backed “roadmap” peace plan which envisions the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.

The move was taken after Israeli occupation forces carried out seven helicopter strikes on the Gaza Strip last week, leaving 27 people dead, mostly innocent civilians.

But the BBC admitted the findings were collated before the launch of the Bush administration's "road-map for peace".

In the Pew Search Centre survey, of the 21 regions surveyed, pluralities or majorities in all but the United States believed that U.S. policy favored Israel too much.”

Culturally, respondents in several countries admitted that they were becoming more like America, with more than 60 per cent in Britain and Israel acknowledging that trend, rising to 81 per cent in Australia.