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Poll finds US endangers peace more than N Korea

A sampling of public opinion about America in 11 nations around the world paints a picture of an arrogant superpower with an enviable economy -- which is a greater danger to world peace than North Korea.

US President George W. Bush failed to impress 58 percent of those asked by pollsters for a BBC broadcast Tuesday night. They said they had a fairly unfavorable or very unfavorable view of the American president. If the American respondents were removed from the sample, the number rose to 60 percent.

The broadcaster emphasized that the poll was not a representative sampling of world opinion , but only of opinion in the 11 countries: Australia, Brazil, Britain Canada, France, Indonesia, Israel, Jordan, Russia, South Korea and the US.

Even though 67 percent of those asked said they wouldn't want their countries to copy US economic policies, 67 percent would aspire to US gains in science and technology, and 56 percent to the opportunities for advancement available to people in the US. Forty percent also aspired to US freedom of expression.

But the way the US wields its great power worried many of the 11,000 people polled in May and June for the program, "What the World Thinks of America."

Only 25 percent of those asked -- excluding Americans -- said US military might was making the world a safer place.

Forty-one percent agreed with British Prime Minister Tony Blair's opinion that the US is a force for good in the world, and 55 percent disagreed.

A majority in every country, including the US, said America is arrogant, for a total of 65 percent overall. Forty-seven percent said America is friendly, and 33 percent find the US antagonistic.

Fifty-six percent of those asked said the US was wrong to attack Iraq, including 81 percent of Russian respondents and 63 percent of those in France. Overall, 37 percent said the war was right, including 54 percent of Britons, 74 percent of Americans and 79 percent of Israelis.

The al-Qaeda terrorist organization was ranked as more dangerous than the US, but the Americans were judged to be a greater threat than Russia, China, Syria and two members of Bush's Axis of Evil -- Iran and North Korea.

Even in South Korea, where tensions along the Demilitarized Zone run high, 48 percent of respondents judged the US to be a greater threat to world peace than the communist neighbors to the north, with their nuclear program.

Fifty percent of the poll respondents said they had a fairly positive or very positive view of the US, compared with 40 percent who had unfavorable views, the poll found. Those figures excluded Americans.
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