TURKS THINK US TROOPS IN IRAQ GREATER DANGER TO WORLD PEACE THAN IRAN

The New Anatolian, Turkey
June 15 2006

The majority of Turks see the presence of U.S. troops in Iraq as a
greater threat to stability in the Mideast than the controversial
government in Iran, according to a new poll of European and Muslim
countries.

The Pew Research Center’s opinion poll released this week found that
Turks are increasingly turning away from the U.S.-declared "war on
terror." More than three-quarters of Turks (77 percent) oppose the
U.S.-led war on terror, up from 56 percent in 2004, while 61 percent
of the participants oppose Iran’s acquiring nuclear weapons.

Turkish support for the war in Iraq dropped sharply from 33 percent
in 2002, the beginning of the war, to 12 percent as of 2006.

People in Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Russia also rated
America’s continuing involvement in Iraq a worse problem than Iran
and its nuclear ambitions. Views of U.S. troops in Iraq were even
more negative in countries like Indonesia, Egypt, Jordan, and Pakistan.

But the war in Iraq trumps the Iranian situation as a perceived
danger to the world at a time when the image of the U.S. and its war
on terrorism continues to drop internationally.

Even in Britain, the U.S.’ closest ally in Iraq, 41 percent of those
surveyed said the U.S. military presence in Iraq was a danger to world
peace and only 34 percent described the Iranian government as a danger.

International opinion on the future of Iraq is generally gloomy.

Majorities in most countries surveyed believe that efforts to establish
a stable democratic government in Iraq will ultimately fail. Pessimism
is strongest in Spain, Turkey, Germany, Jordan, and Egypt — in all
five countries, more than six in 10 respondents believe efforts to
establish democracy will definitely or probably fail.

Iraq is one of many issues that pushes a negative view of the U.S.,
said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center.

"Last year we saw some good news in countries like Russia and India,"
Kohut said. "That good news being wiped away is a measure of how
difficult a problem this is for the U.S.

"Western countries share some points of view," Kohut said, noting
mutual concerns about Iran’s development of a nuclear program and
the victory of Hamas in Palestinian elections. "But Iraq continues
to be divisive."

Opinion of Bush has continued to decline in European countries, while
Muslims-populated publics remain strongly opposed to the American
president. At 3 percent, Turkey now registers the lowest level of
confidence in President Bush.

Western European nations and predominantly Muslim nations have sharply
different views on Iran, which the U.S. claims is developing nuclear
weapons.

Concerning majority Muslim-populated countries’ position towards Iran’s
acquiring nuclear weapons, solid majorities in Turkey (61 percent)
and Indonesia (59 percent) oppose it, but people in Egypt and Jordan
are divided, and most Pakistanis (52 percent) favor Iran acquiring
nuclear weapons. In addition, more people in major industrialized
nations than in Muslim-populated countries believe that Iran wants
a nuclear program to develop weapons, not nuclear energy.

West-Muslim divide on Hamas victory

Divisions between the West and the Muslim world in opinions of the
Hamas Party’s victory in Palestine’s January elections are even wider.

Fully 71 percent of Germans and 69 percent of the French feel the
Hamas triumph will be bad for the Palestinian people, among those
who are aware of the issue. Somewhat fewer Americans (50 percent)
express this view, although just 20 percent think the Hamas triumph
will be a good thing for the Palestinians. Among major U.S. allies,
only the British are divided on Hamas’ election — 34 percent say it
will be bad, while 32 percent take a positive view.

By contrast, large majorities in Pakistan (87 percent), Egypt (76
percent), Jordan (68 percent), and Indonesia (61 percent) feel that
the Hamas Party victory will be good for the Palestinian people,
among those who had heard about the election. In addition, the
Muslim-populated publics surveyed generally feel the Hamas triumph
will increase chances of a fair settlement of the Middle East conflict,
a view opposed by the West.

Some 44 percent of Turks meanwhile think that Hamas’ victory is good
for the Palestinian people, while 23 percent think the opposite.

Another significant part of the opinion poll shows that negative views
of France have increased over the past year, especially in majority
Muslim-populated countries. In Turkey, 61 percent feel unfavorably
toward France, up from 51 percent last year.

Riots of disenfranchised Muslim French youth have likely fueled this
perception worldwide, whereas for Turks, French legislation proposing
that rejection of the Armenian "genocide" be outlawed may also have
played a role.