(IslamOnline.net) – 2004-04-12 08:33:25
http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-04/11/article06.shtml
CAIRO (April 11, 2004) — US supports dictatorial regimes in the Muslim world, but any military interference by Washington to topple those regimes is not welcome, an IslamOnline.net poll revealed Sunday, April 11. The three-day poll, entitled “The US and Dictatorships in the Muslim World,” started April 8.
Of the 4,360 who responded, 89.17% agreed that the US supports dictatorial regimes. A minority of 10.83%, however, believed that the US does not support such regimes.
A great majority of respondents, however, rejected any military interference from the US to topple those regimes saying the best way to help the people living under these dictatorships is for the US to end any and all support or aid to these regimes.
87.72% of the 4112 respondents supported end of the aid, while a minor percentage of 12.28% believed the US should interfere militarily.
The American image in the eyes of the world deteriorated since the beginning of the so-called war on terrorism that started with the military campaign on Afghanistan and then invading and occupying Iraq.
‘Life Was Better under Hussein’
In the same context, a survey of BBC viewers worldwide found Friday, April 9, that the US poses a far greater threat to the world than terrorism and armed conflicts.
An earlier survey carried out in nine world countries showed that the majority of peoples mistrust the US foreign policies and suspect the motives behind its war on terror.
One year after occupation of Iraq, the United States has failed to win the support of the Iraqi people according to subsequent polls coming out of Iraq.
Iraqis, on the other hand, believe that their lives are much worse than it was during the regime of the former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.
US Secretary of State Collin Powell announced in December last year a 29-million-dollar initiative to foster “democracy” in the Middle East.
Last November, George W. Bush said the people of the Middle East should have responsible democratic leaders, announcing a new American “forward strategy of freedom in the Middle East”, a policy which drew flack from Arab countries.
Several Arab political analysts regarded, however, the version of “democracy” suggested by the US as the door for Washington to meddle into Arab countries’ internal affairs and rearrange the region according to its own interests.
