I saw this item on the World News website that talked about a poll taken in Australia. Its unbelievable but our once strong friendship is going down the tubes with Bush in charge.
Heres part of the article:
U.S. losing favor with Australia
http://www.wn.com/
By Raymond Bonner and Donald Greenlees International Herald Tribune, The New York Times
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
SYDNEY U.S. foreign policy poses as big a threat to world peace as Islamic fundamentalism, while the rise of China is the last on a list of potential threats, according to a survey released Monday of public opinion in Australia, one of Washington's closest allies in the Asia-Pacific region.
The results of the comprehensive survey of opinion in a country that has been a close and valued ally of the United States in the war on terrorism and the invasion of Iraq have surprised foreign policy analysts in Australia and underscore the problems facing the Bush administration as it tries to improve the international image of the United States.
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The survey, the most comprehensive ever conducted on public opinion in Australia on international relations, shows that America trails far behind China and Japan in public popularity. Although 84 percent of Australians had positive views of Japan and 69 percent expressed positive views of China, only 58 percent felt the same way about the United States..
The 53-year-old U.S.-Australia alliance, or Anzus, is one of Washington's strategic anchors in the Pacific. But the ambivalence of popular opinion in Australia toward the United States shows the difficulty ahead in an administration project in public perceptions.
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In March, President George W. Bush tapped a longtime confidante and former White House counselor, Karen Hughes, for the job of transforming America's image in the Arab world. The results of the Australian survey suggest that the problem facing the new under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs goes well beyond the Middle East. Even close allies might need some attention.
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While Australia, a predominantly Christian, Anglo-Saxon country, has a lot of cultural affinities with the United States, analysts say the historically close relationship, which has seen Australians alongside American soldiers in Korea, Vietnam and the two Gulf wars, has become a harder sell during the Bush presidency.
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"There is quite a big disconnect between how the world views Bush and how the Americans view Bush," says Don Russell, Australia's ambassador to Washington between 1993 and 1995.
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"If you did a similar poll during the Clinton years," he said, "you would get a cyclical high, and now you have a cyclical low."
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The findings of the opinion poll, commissioned by the Lowy Institute, a research institute with a generally center-right orientation, suggest that one of the main reasons for the lack of popularity of America in Australia is the perceived influence that Washington exercises over Australian foreign policy. The poll found that more than two-thirds of respondents felt "we take too much notice of the views of the United States."
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The Lowy Institute says it modeled the poll on the work of the Chicago Council of Foreign Relations and the Pew Research Institute. It was based on interviews with 1,000 Australians and had a 3.1 percent margin of error. The results can be found at: www.lowyinstitute.org.
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The war in Iraq appears to be one of the strongest points of disagreement Australians have with U.S. policy. Before the war, when Australia's prime minister, John Howard, made clear his intention to send troops in support of the United States, he was lampooned by critics as the "deputy sheriff," and Australia had its biggest street demonstrations since Vietnam.
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According to other recent polls, there has been a slight increase in support for Australia's involvement in Iraq, although a small majority is still against the presence of Australian troops there. Howard recently attracted renewed public ire for reneging on an election promise not to commit more troops to Iraq.
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The conflict in Iraq might also be contributing to perceptions that U.S. foreign policy is a potential threat: 57 percent of Australians rated U.S. policy as a threat equal to Islamic fundamentalism.
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The poll results are a surprise to many because the American-Australian relationship has long been considered special by political leaders, liberal and conservative, in both countries.
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The special nature of the relationship extends to intelligence sharing and defense. The United States operates one of its most critical intelligence eavesdropping stations in the Australian outback, and in exchange Australia has access to nearly all American intelligence.
Alarming, isnt it?
more:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AUSTRALIA_US_SURVEY?SITE=CAWOO&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT