|
Poll:
Majority Of Muslims Think U.S. “Ruthless”, “Arrogant”
 |
| Protesters burn an
American flag. |
PRINCETON,
New Jersey, Feb. 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Residents of nine Muslim
countries called the United States "ruthless and arrogant" in a new
poll, with most describing themselves as "resentful" of the
superpower, the CNN news online service reported.
A
Gallup poll found that by a 2-to-1 margin, residents in these nations express an
unfavorable opinion of the United States, and a majority also indicated their
displeasure with U.S. President George W. Bush.
Most
Muslims surveyed expressed the view that the September 11 attacks on the United
States were not justified morally, but larger majorities labeled U.S. military
action in Afghanistan "morally unjustifiable."
An
overwhelming sixty-one percent said they did not believe Arab groups carried out
the September 11 attacks.
Researchers
conducted personal interviews with 9,924 residents of Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia,
Turkey, Lebanon, Morocco, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to measure public
opinion in those countries following the September 11 attacks. About half of the
world's Muslim population lives in those nine countries.
The
overall view was not a positive one for the United States: 53 percent of the
people questioned had unfavorable opinions of the United States, while 22
percent had favorable opinions.
Most
respondents said they thought the United States was aggressive and biased
towards Islamic values. Specifically, they cited a bias against Palestinians.
They
also view American values as deeply materialist and secular and American culture
as a corrupting influence on their societies, the poll found.
Residents
of Lebanon had the highest favorable opinion of the United States, at 41
percent, followed by NATO ally, Turkey, with 40 percent. The lowest numbers came
from Pakistan, at 5 percent.
Twenty-eight
percent of Kuwaitis, 27 percent of Indonesians, 22 percent of Jordanians, 22
percent of Moroccans, 16 percent of Saudi Arabians and 14 percent of Iranians
surveyed had a favorable view of the United States.
On
Bush, 58 percent of those surveyed had unfavorable opinions, compared with 11
percent who had favorable views.
Of
those surveyed, 67 percent saw the September 11 attacks as morally unjustified,
while 15 percent of the respondents said they were morally justified. But 77
percent said the U.S. military action in Afghanistan was morally unjustified,
compared with 9 percent who said it was morally justified.
Many
blamed Israel or the United States, the paper said, strengthening evidence of a
huge gulf between the West and Islamic countries over the attacks on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The
interviews were conducted between December and January. The respondents were
randomly selected and did not know a U.S. firm was sponsoring the poll.
Gallup
did not immediately make the findings public.
|
