John Zogby: It's U.S. Policy, Not Culture, That Arabs Dislike

FORTY-TWO MONTHS POST 9/11, THE WHY-DO-THEY-HATE-US BATTLES RAGE ON.


At the other end of the spectrum from my April 21 post on Americans' individual responsibilities abroad ("Beacon No. 31: Like a Good Neighbor, Americans Are There?") is John Zogby, who told a Rice University audience that it's U.S. policy that drives Arab attitudes, not individual Americans or their culture:

Mr. Zogby said the war in Iraq and the Bush administration's support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon have damaged the U.S. image among Arabs.

"There has been a decline, since 2002, in Arab public attitudes towards the United States, in general, and towards aspects of the United States. There has been a slight rebound in 2004 from 2003 and, of course, we have not polled since the events in Iraq [the election and subsequent moves to establish a government] and the Palestinian elections and so on, but I suspect that there is still a lot of anger," he said.

See Greg Flakus' full story at Axcess News.