View of America in Arab countries fueled by American policies, not values.
By on Apr 23rd, 2008 at 8:01 pm
View of America in Arab countries fueled by American policies, not values.
At Cato-on-Liberty today, Justin Logan highlights the fact that in Shibley Telhami’s latest survey of Arab public opinion, “attitudes towards the United States” are overwhelmingly based more on American policy towards the Middle East, not American values:
(HT: Matthew Yglesias)
Update More on the poll here.
View Most Popular
Advertisement
What We're About
What We're Fighting For
What We're Fighting Against
Featured
Subscribe to the Progress Report
Topic CloudView topics sorted by popularity
Afghanistan
Bachmann
Beck
Boehner
Business
Cheney
Civil Rights
Congress
Corporate Ethics
Dobbs
Economy
Education
Election
Energy
Environment
Ethics
Fox News
Gingrich
Glenn Beck
Global Warming
Health Care
Immigration
International Relations
Justice
LGBT
Lieberman
Limbaugh
Media
Military
O'Reilly
Obama
Palin
Pelosi
Politics
Race
Radical Right
Religion
Sports
Steele
Stimulus
Tea Parties
Tea Party
Terrorism
Veterans
Women's Rights
Visit Our Affiliated Sites
Reports
In-depth studies on select topics
Got a hot tip?
Have a hot news tip? We'd love to hear from you. Use the form below to send us the latest.
ArchivesBlog Roll
How DARE they judge us by what we do, instead of what we say?!?!
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:10 pmI guess this puts the lie to the whole “They hate us for our freedom” arguement.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:12 pmWell…
DUH?!
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:25 pmActions speak louder than words.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:33 pmIt’s the policies, stupid!!
Anyone who ever really believed they hated us for “our freedom,” go smack yourself silly.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:33 pmAnd our policies go back how many decades?
‘Nuff said.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:35 pmMission Accomplished, Karen Hughes!
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:36 pmDidn’t the GOP laugh Ron Paul off the stage for saying this? If you don’t think the CIA is a major source of inspiration visa-via their tactics, for the terrorism and help drugs come into this country then you will find this study confusing. If, on the other hand you listen to Air America, you know it is named after a CIA drug running operation in SE Asia, and you should know Reagan used crack proceeds to fund the Contras. http://www.narconews.com/darkalliance/
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:37 pmAlso see http://www.soaw.org/type.php?type=8 to know more about our foreign policy in South America.
republicans hate facts Says:
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:40 pm
Hussein is a name, rhf, not magic. Although I’m pretty sure Hillary doesn’t even have that much magic.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:46 pm“Kool G Says:”
Troll? Hmmm, possibly.
Guess what Kool G? WE care. And you should too. America cannot stand alone forever. Everybody needs friends.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:51 pmDefinitely a troll, LT. Flag it and ignore it. It will clog the threads either way.
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:52 pmHillary doesn’t care about their opinions. That’s why she’ll beat Hussein Obama and the senile Old McCain. She will raise wages again!
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:55 pmKool G Says:
Whi cares what they think about us?
Sheesh.. umm, we do? Because of things like security, economy, allies in the region, the fact that many of them want to destroy us and we’d like to change that, “winning their hearts and minds”… gosh their’s really quite a lot of reasons to care what they think of us.
Why not have a poll on what AMericans think of Arab Countries? The results will upset you Obama Hussein supporters.
I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make here…
April 23rd, 2008 at 8:58 pmDigDug, it has no point. It simply posts crap to clog threads. That’s all it does. Flag it.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:00 pmKool G Says:
liberal traitor,
The only friends we need are Europenas, Latin Americans, Chinese and Russians. The Arab Terrorists can go take a hike.
This is a poll of Arab countries, not Arab terrorists.
And I think Zooey is right, you’re a troll.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:00 pmNo matter; conservatives have no use for opinion surveys that don’t reinforce their stereotypes and preconceived notions.
They will go on believing that them Arabs hate us for our freedoms -which include the freedom to be tortured at the president’s whim.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:00 pmYou’re right Zooey. I’ll ignore it.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 pmTrolling and name-jacking?
Well, our resident moron is really busy today.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:01 pmGregor, who got name-jacked?
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:12 pmBesides me on TPWW? Maybe Kool G if that’s what Gregor means. I can’t recall seeing a Kool G before…but I’ve been getting dumber via osmosis from Twajie, so perhaps my brain isn’t what it once was.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:16 pmattitudes towards the United States” are overwhelmingly based more on American policy towards the Middle East, not American values:
Circular logic. American foreign policy is based on the new, post 9/11 variety of “American values,” namely, a sort of neo-colonialism.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:18 pmDefinitely ignore this troll, unless you want this thread covered with shite.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:18 pmKool G is a retarded kid. God, please spare this poor child. He’s not a troll. He’s not right…the cognitive synapses are not firing properly. Read what he wrote yesterday. He deserves a smile and a nod – and a move on.
Honestly, please don’t pick on him. His posts sadden me.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:19 pmLT, I saw that you name-jacked on TPWW. Too funny. That idiot really thinks people will believe that was you. :D
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:20 pmI could learn a lot from you Ms_Joanne. I spend far too much time feeding trolls sometimes…
This thread’s topic has an interesting relation to Iran if you think about it. The next country on the attack list has a population of people who live in the Middle east (and most Americans think Iranians are Arabs, so it’s even more sad and related) that are strikingly similar to Americans. Lots of “western” style culture and they’re being “led” by a man who many consider to be crazy and is as hated by his constituents as the president in America is by his.
As I have said many times before, the snake eats its tail.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:22 pmZooey,
I suspect Republicans Hate Facts was namejacked. That post is much too asinine to be his.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:26 pmLT, I wish I could say I was worth emulating. I do my share of troll feeding. But this guy isn’t one, IMHO. He’s simply not right.
Bill C. called the CEO’s? Hils will make gas $1.29. There’s no concept of the real world there, of global stock markets, futures, corporate America. That’s not realistic thought.
And, seriously, it saddens me.
You’re not going to get rational discourse there.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:28 pmNot necessarily Gregor. RHF seem to have gone over the edge lately.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:29 pmGregor, I don’t know…RHF has lost it lately. He’s so on a Klinton Koolaid Kick, he’s completely lost it. IT used TO be EVERY other WORD was ALL caps, now he’s just nuckin’ futs.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:30 pmThat’s too bad about RHF. Oh well.
At any rate, let’s not feed the troll ;-)
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:32 pmGregor Samsa Says:
Zooey,
I suspect Republicans Hate Facts was namejacked. That post is much too asinine to be his.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
That was him — and he was restraining himself. Yesterday he called me the c-word and said I was insane. He’s very upset that many people don’t support Hillary, like he does. :D
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:32 pmGreatest lie ever told: “They hate us because we’re free”.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:32 pmZooey, don’t be modest. He dropped the C bomb on you THREE times. It was quite impressive (ok, disgusting and I flagged it, but I digress).
(snicker)
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:35 pmGreatest lie ever told: “They hate us because we’re free”.
“Mission accomplished” beats that one by a bloody, body-strewn mile.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:37 pm“Mission accomplished” beats that one by a bloody, body-strewn mile.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:41 pmI see the point you’re making, but people had to agree to the first lie to allow us to go in in the first place. All the murdering which followed depended on that rancid lie.
Zooey,
That’s interesting. And sad. Some people are really emotional about these primaries.
I really hope McCain doesn’t win the presidential election; clearly what is needed is a change in the US’ foreign policy. I am sure MiddleEasterns care less about the American values than they do about the American presence in their countries.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 pmI see the point you’re making, but people had to agree to the first lie to allow us to go in in the first place.
In any scam, or confidence move, the trick is always to make the first lie a small one, to gauge the mark’s ripeness. Such was the case with the “freedoms” lie, because it reinforced Joe Sixpack’s jingoist preconceptions. It didn’t call for a willing suspension of disbelief, just a slight tweaking of their already-hardwired stereotypical thought processes. The Mission Accomplished lie was much more monstrous, because it was a media event, complete with patriotic soundtrack.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:57 pmWhat do you believe would happen if the United States quickly withdrew its forces? ( I found this interesting in the attachments.)
61% Iraqis will find a way to bridge their differences
Since the surge of American forces in Iraq, the number of reported violent incidents has significantly declined in many parts of Iraq.
67% I don’t believe the reports of a significant reduction in violence & It was only a matter of time before violence increased again
It’s all good. Even the Arab opinion poll proves they are not buying the propaganda that our administration is shoveling out on a daily basis.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:01 pmGregor Samsa Says:
Zooey,
That’s interesting. And sad. Some people are really emotional about these primaries.
April 23rd, 2008 at 9:49 pm
He just revealed his true colors. That crap was always just under the surface. We just hadn’t disagreed with him sufficiently up to that point.
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:02 pmI’m late to the party but….
Yeah, no sh1t. Nobody in the world gives a fu(k about our “values.”
Our goobermints policy is what matters.
*goes upthread to read and catch up*
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:47 pmOne wonders if the Iraqi people think of the Bush administration in this light.
http://www.miniaturegigantic.com/258.html
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:17 pmWe’ve known that for a long time already.
April 23rd, 2008 at 11:55 pmhttp://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1129/dailyUpdate.html
http://www.antiwar.com/scheuer/?articleid=12576
No surprise. Are polls like these getting any attention in American Media?
-
Name TWO countries that you think pose the biggest threat to you:
Iran: 7% (2006: 11%)
US: 88% (2006: 72%)
Israel: 95% (2006: 85%)
-
Which TWO of the following factors do you believe are most important in driving American pol
cy in the Middle East?
Promoting democracy: 4%
Spreading human rights: 4%
Promoting peace and stability: 6%
Fighting terrorism: 7%
Preserving regional and global dominance: 30%
Weakening the Muslim World: 33%
Protecting Israel: 47%
Controlling oil: 50%
-
Most Arabs want Americans to stop “promoting democracy” in the ME and are very concerned their presence in Iraq will spread violence to their countries.
April 24th, 2008 at 2:31 amIt is not Muslims who want to destroy our freedoms, it’s this administration. Free people will not tolerate what these criminals are doing.
Oh wait…
April 24th, 2008 at 7:35 amReally, is this a surprise to anybody? Talking freedom and democracy means nothing when your ships are raining hundreds of missiles to the capital of your country.
April 24th, 2008 at 1:53 pmOn a related note.
It took this ignorant US administration 7 years to figure out some basic facts about Islam, and that Muslims find much of their rhetoric offensive
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2008/04/jihadist_booted_from_governmen.php
April 25th, 2008 at 2:57 am