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The numbers on how we’re losing fight against terror
By WDavidStephenson | July 10, 2007
No, I’m not going to recite the numbers on military losses in Iraq, nor the cost of that miserable adventure. Today’s numbers on 
how we’re losing the battle against terrorism — not to mention the battle for the hearts and minds of the rest of the word, come not from the battlefield, but the offices of the Pew Research Center.
Their new Global Attitudes Project report documents that, with reasons ranging from our lack of action on global warming to the war in Iraq, a growing percentage of the people in the 47 nations surveyed hold unfavorable opinions of the US.
The key findings are grim for us:
“Global distrust of American leadership is reflected in increasing disapproval of the cornerstones of U.S. foreign policy. Not only is there worldwide support for a withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, but there also is considerable opposition to U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan. Western European publics are at best divided about keeping troops there. In nearly every predominantly Muslim country, overwhelming majorities want U.S. and NATO troops withdrawn from Afghanistan as soon as possible. In addition, global support for the U.S.-led war on terrorism ebbs ever lower. And the United States is the nation blamed most often for hurting the world’s environment, at a time of rising global concern about environmental issues.”
While not all of the news was bad for the US, the downward trends in our global standing (think back to the days of the Marshall Plan….) are ominous:
“In the current poll, majorities in 25 of the 47 countries surveyed express positive views of the U.S. Since 2002, however, the image of the United States has declined in most parts of the world. Favorable ratings of America are lower in 26 of 33 countries for which trends are available.
The U.S. image remains abysmal in most Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia, and continues to decline among the publics of many of America’s oldest allies. Favorable views of the U.S. are in single digits in Turkey (9%) and have declined to 15% in Pakistan. Currently, just 30% of Germans have a positive view of the U.S. – down from 42% as recently as two years ago – and favorable ratings inch ever lower in Great Britain and Canada.”
IMHO, less unilateral warfare in the Middle East and more leadership on global warming (including reduced dependence on Middle East oil, a twofer), would do wonders to restore our standing.
Technorati tags:
homeland security George Bush War on Terror Iraq War terrorism antiterrorism politics collaboration global warming sustainability global warming sustainable development Pew Center
Topics: global warming/security, policy and politics | |
