Something Short of Pure Hatred
Iranians still don't like America very much, but the ice is beginning to melt, a new poll shows.
Western pundits like to console themselves that while Iran's leaders may be fiercely anti-American, its people, especially the young, are another matter: pro-Western aspiring democrats who, if allowed to vote freely, would elect a more agreeable government. Now a poll released today by WorldOpinion.org paints a more complex picture.
The United States is still reviled, though somewhat less than a year ago. The new poll shows that 69 percent of Iranians have an unfavorable view of the United States, down from 76 percent in December 2006, when the last poll was taken. Likewise, the portion of Iranians who say they have a very unfavorable view dropped 14 points, from 65 percent to 51 percent. Feelings about the U.S. government are similarly fraught—75 percent hold an unfavorable view—though this has dropped 9 points since last year. Asked whether the United States is having a positive or negative influence in the world, the same number—75 percent—said it is having a negative influence.
The American people, on the other hand, seem to have turned a corner in the eyes of the Iranian public. A slim majority of 51 percent said they hold favorable views of Americans, up six points from the last poll. In addition, a majority of Iranians favor building closer relations with the United States through direct talks, better access for journalists, more cultural exchanges and more trade.
On the issues that matter most to the West—Iran's nuclear program and support for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad—the public closely follows Tehran. Take the government first. Two-thirds of Iranians give it positive marks and say the country is generally moving in the right direction. On the nuclear question, six in 10 Iranians think bombs run counter to Islam. That sounds good. But 81 percent also say it's "very important" for Iran to have a full-fledged nuclear-fuel program. This is exactly the government's position. Given that Iran has the world's second-largest oil reserves—and thus no need for alternative energy—it's pretty clear what it wants that nuclear fuel for.
Poll results (excerpts):
Question: Please tell me if you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable opinion of the following.
| The United States | ||
| 2/08 | 12/06 | |
| Very favorable | 7% | 5% |
| Somewhat favorable | 17 | 17 |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 18 | 11 |
| Very unfavorable | 51 | 65 |
| Refused/Don't know | 7 | 3 |
| The current U.S. government | ||
| 2/08 | 12/06 | |
| Very favorable | 2% | 2% |
| Somewhat favorable | 6 | 3 |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 10 | 9 |
| Very unfavorable | 75 | 84 |
| Refused/Don't know | 8 | 3 |
| The American people | ||
| 2/08 | 12/06 | |
| Very favorable | 15% | 9% |
| Somewhat favorable | 36 | 36 |
| Somewhat unfavorable | 17 | 16 |
| Very unfavorable | 20 | 33 |
| Refused/Don't know | 12 | 6 |
This survey was fielded in Iran from Jan. 13 to Feb. 9, 2008 (margin of error: +/- 3.8 percent; sample size: 710) by WorldPublicOpinion.org. Click here for the complete results, which include Iranian attitudes toward their country's economy and a comparison of American and Iranian attitudes towards Iran's role in the Middle East.
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: getzel @ 04/12/2008 10:19:31 AM
Comment: Sharia people are at war with The West because Sharia people believe Islam can not survive against: a free market economy with free speech to criticize Islam.
Sharia people are at war with The West because Arabs, Persians, & Sharia people believe Islam can not survive against a free market, free speech, republic with: womens rights & no honor killing: murdering women is legal in Sharia.
Arab, if only Israel: is only an excuse, propaganda, for Islamic terror; as we see that wherever the Mohammedans bump against another culture the Mohammedans say the same thing they say about Israel. In India: same thing, in Kosovo: same thing, In Israel: same thing. In Darfur: same thing. In Thailand: same thing, the Philippines: same thing. Wherever the Moslems are contiguous with another people: The Moslems say the same thing they say about Israel: If only: Sharia and no freedom of speech to criticize Islam
The headlines should read: WEST OUTRAGE AT CALL FOR END OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH; INCLUDING THE RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH TO SAY or draw ANYTHING ABOUT ISLAM.
or YOUR RULES VIOLATE OUR RULES: HERE STICKS AND STONES MAY BREAK OUR BONES BUT WORDS CAN NEVER HURT US
or IN ISLAMIA: WE RUSH-TO -DIE TO PROTECT US FROM THE SATANIC VERSES OF THE WEST.
I delivered that exact message in writing to every member of congress in 1989; along with an exact description of the battle tactics that would be used against us.
Intelligence analyst: Getzel
Bush/Rice/Cheney got the exact outcome in Iraq that they desired when they sent in troops in 2003. Bush/Rice/Cheney actions do not jive with these demo-crazy words. Nice long lasting war and sell lots of weapons.
War ends We win: when we pass a law that makes the minimum price of gasoline at the pumps: $1.75/gallon; billion dollar/million barrel per day ethanol stills will not be built without protection from OPEC monopoly pricing rusting out our new stills.
The ethanol investors do not build ethanol distilleries because monopoly OPEC would lower the price to rust out their billion dollar million barrel a day ethanol still. Brazil is energy independent: ethanol; All their cars come built running on ethanol; Archer Daniel Midland made millions on $1.00 gallon ethanol in the 1990s; that trumps any canard/invalid objection to ethanol. Use Cellulose ethanol, not corn ethanol.
This will balance the trade deficit, create full employment, bring down the price of fuel, break the monopoly on the pricing of fuel, balance the USA government budget, create less pollution, make the USA energy independent, and end the war because we will stop funding the bad guys everyday at the gas pumps..
Intelligence analyst: Getzel
Posted By: Johanna Billeson @ 04/11/2008 1:15:03 AM
Comment: Mr Tepperman states that 81 per cent of Iraniian voters think it's very important to have a full-fledged nuclear fuel program. He concludes: "Iran has the world's second largest oil reserves - and thus no need for alternative energy - it's pretty clear what it wants that nuclear fuel for." How clear is it really? Iranians might well be shrewd conservers of their oilfields, saving them for future use and profit ,as the rest of the world guzzles away. Here in Sweden, many people regret government's well-meaning but costly move away from using nuclear energy for fuel. Alternative energy can be prohibitively expensive and has detrimental side effects of its own. Many people here want nuclear energy restored. Should we be up in arms about Sweden?
Posted By: the_shelton @ 04/10/2008 11:29:57 PM
Comment: Its amazing how short sighted we have all become. As long as we have our cell phones and ipods, we think we are going to be okay tomorrow. The world is changing dear friends, and we are slowly falling out of the position of prominence into one of owing a lot of money that we have borrowed to keep our selfish egos above water. We think we are so much above everyone else, and that we are so free, but we take it so much for granted we can lose it in an instant. We aren't the first "Great" power and we won't be the last. You can count the great powers that have existed in the past 500 years and see how many of them are still around. Sorry folks, but we are headed down a pretty bad road and if we don't start worrying about what the rest of the world thinks of us, we could be left out on the limb. We can't bully our way around the world as we have been doing and expect it to remain on our side. We had better start worrying about it, because if we don't, we really won't have to worry about it, we will be looking at it from the rear.