World sees U.S. in Iraq bigger danger than Iran

[Skyrad 0]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The world increasingly fears Iran's suspected pursuit of a nuclear bomb but believes the U.S. military in Iraq remains a greater danger to Middle East stability, a survey showed on Tuesday.

As Washington campaigns to highlight the threat it sees from Tehran, the good news for the United States in a Pew Research Centre poll of 17,000 people in 15 countries is that publics,
particularly in the West, are worrying more about Iran. The bad news is people worldwide think the U.S. presence in Iraq is an even bigger threat and support in most countries for President George W. Bush's war on terrorism is either flat or falling.

And after some signs anti-Americanism had been abating, in part because of goodwill generated by U.S. aid for victims of a late-2004 tsunami in Asia, favourable opinions of the United States have since fallen back in most countries.

Widespread concern over U.S. detainee treatment in Iraq and places such as Guantanamo, is a key drag on America's overall image, according to the survey.

Bush himself received the lowest marks for international leadership compared with his counterparts in Britain, Germany, France and Russia, and confidence in him has slipped in most countries -- to as low as three percent in Turkey.

The survey of global attitudes by the respected research group was conducted from March 31 to May 14 in Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Russia, Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Jordan, Turkey, Nigeria, Japan, India, China and the United States.

With a margin of error ranging from two percent to six percent depending on the country, the poll made comparisons to similar surveys it had conducted in the last few years.

Among Washington's traditional allies, Germany is the only country where more people say Iran is a bigger danger than the United States in Iraq.

Otherwise, the survey made grim comparisons for the Bush administration, including that 56 percent of Spaniards, 45 percent of Russians and 31 percent of Indonesians believe the United States in Iraq is the greater threat.

The poll was published after the United States shifted tactics on Iran, offering late last month to join European-led negotiations over curbing its nuclear programmes, which Iran says are for peaceful power generation.

With people worldwide overwhelmingly believing Iran is seeking to build an atomic bomb, fears over the Islamic republic have tripled in some Western countries. The Muslim world is less fearful of Iran but its concerns have also risen, representing, for example, a great danger to 19 percent of Jordanians, the poll showed.


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/13062006/325/world-sees-u-s-iraq-bigger-danger-iran.html

I agree with the statement, and would go further to say that the US occupation not only destabilises the niddle east but is in danger of destroying te UN and returning us to te bad old days of power alliances and arms races.

When an author is too meticulous about his style, you may presume that his mind is frivolous and his content flimsy.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca

[misaltas 0]

Occupying Iraq and cleaning up our poorly conceived and executed post-war plan until their democratically elected gov't can operate and their defense forces can defend, then getting the hell out. Yeah, that sounds pretty dangerous to me.

Where would you rather live? Iran or the US?

(I mean the general "you", not you in particular skyrad.)

Ohne Liebe sind wir nichts

[Hawkins121 0]

Of course those were the results... Anti-US is the fad now-a-days... Let Iran get the bomb and redo the poll.

[twibbles 0]

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Of course those were the results... Anti-US is the fad now-a-days... Let Iran get the bomb and redo the poll.

Food for thought.

Iran: possibly developing technologies that could be used to make a nuclear weapon.

The Unites States: 9,960 nuclear warheads, of which 5,735 are operational.

Eugene

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[billvon 2,435]

>The Unites States: 9,960 nuclear warheads, of which 5,735 are operational.

I'd add that we have lost at least one functioning nuclear weapon (and likely a submarine full of them as well) as well as several weapon cores and several bomb assemblies. The USSR has lost a lot more than that.

If a terrorist does ever get his hands on a nuclear weapon, chances are it will be one of ours or one of Russia's.

[crwtom 0]

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If a terrorist does ever get his hands on a nuclear weapon, chances are it will be one of ours or one of Russia's.

right exactly

loose or badly guarded material in the former soviet republics is
a far greater threat. A terrorist
- may just steal it and not pay lots of money (which aslo leaves a
trail)
- won't have to deal with a government that would have to fear
serious repercussions if a nuclear terror attack had been carried
with their weapons and consent.
- has less military or secret service surveillance to worry about.

Cheers, T

*******************************************************************
Fear causes hesitation, and hesitation will cause your worst fears to come true

[kallend 1,651]

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If a terrorist does ever get his hands on a nuclear weapon, chances are it will be one of ours or one of Russia's.

right exactly

loose or badly guarded material in the former soviet republics is
a far greater threat. A terrorist
- may just steal it and not pay lots of money (which aslo leaves a
trail)
- won't have to deal with a government that would have to fear
serious repercussions if a nuclear terror attack had been carried
with their weapons and consent.
- has less military or secret service surveillance to worry about.

Cheers, T

According to figures from the Federal Government, there are over 2.7 tons of weapons grade plutonium unaccounted for in the US inventory. For comparison purposes, only 3.4 tons have been used in all the weapons tests ever carried out by the US plus the bombing of Nagasaki.

And we worry about the Iranians

(Maybe we're hiding it somewhere).

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[Hellsbuttmonkey 0]

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(Maybe we're hiding it somewhere).

send in the weapons inspectors

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(Maybe we're hiding it somewhere).

send in the weapons inspectors

No use, they'll just hide it in the White House and refuse the inspectors entry.

Eugene

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[Royd 0]

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Food for thought.

Iran: possibly developing technologies that could be used to make a nuclear weapon.

The Unites States: 9,960 nuclear warheads, of which 5,735 are operational.

Have you taken a look at the pres. of Iran? Does the term "Loose cannon" mean anything to you?
I don't believe Israel has ever done anything to harm Iran, yet, the Iranian pres. says Israel does not deserve to exist.
Why should we care what the majority of countries, who can't even keep their own internal affairs running smoothly, think about us.
I noticed in the original post that after the sunami in Indonesia, we are the good guys, but when we take a proactive move to protect ourselves, then we are the villians.

[twibbles 0]

Proactive? How does invading Iraq become a proactive measure to protect the United States? First reason that was given was because Iraq was harboring Al-Qaeda terrorists. When it became obvious that they weren't, it was change to WMD's. When those wasn't found, it was changes yet again to human right's abuses of Saddam Hussein, which leads straight back to whole Guantanamo Bay fiasaco. And before you start talking about the terrorists in Iraq at the moment, they went to Iraq after the invasion to fight the coalition forces there. The way i'm seeing things, there's a loose cannon without nuclear wareheads, and a loose cannon with 9,960 of them.

Eugene

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[Hawkins121 0]

Its all well and good to hate the US... Hey thats pop-culture right now so why not join in..

I've said this before on these forums.. We have had people on the ground training guerrilla forces for years. If there isnt a regime change in Iran Israel will continue to be targeted.

Why would that change if Iran was out of the picuture? Iran has backed Hamas financially, provides them weapons, intelligence etc for a long time. The groups would be alot less effective with that sort of backing... Do you remember the 3 ships that were stopped filled with weapons bound for Hamas from Iran? Probably not... Why would you? The United States are the bad guys right????

[Zach 0]

Obvisously its so if Iran nukes Israel, we can nuke them 5,735 times.

Kidding aside though, Arab anitsemitism is unreal, and as "agressive" as Bush is, he's yet to call for the complete destruction of a country and its people.

[twibbles 0]

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Its all well and good to hate the US... Hey thats pop-culture right now so why not join in..

I've said this before on these forums.. We have had people on the ground training guerrilla forces for years. If there isnt a regime change in Iran Israel will continue to be targeted.

Why would that change if Iran was out of the picuture? Iran has backed Hamas financially, provides them weapons, intelligence etc for a long time. The groups would be alot less effective with that sort of backing... Do you remember the 3 ships that were stopped filled with weapons bound for Hamas from Iran? Probably not... Why would you? The United States are the bad guys right????

First off, i don't hate the US, i just disagree with their current foreign policy. And going around thinking that anyone who doesn't wave the American flag hate's America isn't going to do you any good, there's is ground in the middle you know. Saying that people hate America because it the pop-culture of the movement is just trying to ignore the concerns that people have on the whole situation. Nobody is "the good guy", or the "bad guy", that's my opinion. It's all self interest. Call me a cynic...

Eugene

Eugene

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[twibbles 0]

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Obvisously its so if Iran nukes Israel, we can nuke them 5,735 times.

Kidding aside though, Arab anitsemitism is unreal, and as "agressive" as Bush is, he's yet to call for the complete destruction of a country and its people.

You're forgetting that Israel would probably get the first nukes in first. I agree about the Arab antisemitism, i don't know wether it's intrinsic to religion, or that people who are that devoted to religion just can't see things from other people's point of view, nor are open to discussion.

I suppose it comes down to capability. IThe US have the capability to project force and land troops anywhere in the world. Iran, doesn't have the capability to invade, say Bolivia, if they want to.

Eugene

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[Royd 0]

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Proactive? How does invading Iraq become a proactive measure to protect the United States?

Why don't we look at this as a giant science experiment, since the liberals so heartily embrace science.
We are injecting an antibiotic of democracy into a body filled with Islamic disease, in hope of healing the region.
Iraq just happened to be the most accessable point of entry.

[twibbles 0]

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Proactive? How does invading Iraq become a proactive measure to protect the United States?

Why don't we look at this as a giant science experiment, since the liberals so heartily embrace science.
We are injecting an antibiotic of democracy into a body filled with Islamic disease, in hope of healing the region.
Iraq just happened to be the most accessable point of entry.

Despite the fact that Iraq was a mainly secular country under Saddam Hussein? All the religious fundamentalist only came out of the woodwork after he was deposed. If democracy was really the whole reason for it, then why did the United States help depose a democratic goverment in Iran in the 50's?

Eugene

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[billvon 2,435]

> We are injecting an antibiotic of democracy into a body filled with Islamic disease . . .

We could have a catchy name for that, like a "crusade" or something!

[twibbles 0]

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> We are injecting an antibiotic of democracy into a body filled with Islamic disease . . .

We could have a catchy name for that, like a "crusade" or something!

I think it's going to be the 10th Crusade, unless i missed a few..

Eugene

"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of
people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[Guest]

Quote

>The Unites States: 9,960 nuclear warheads, of which 5,735 are operational.

I'd add that we have lost at least one functioning nuclear weapon (and likely a submarine full of them as well) as well as several weapon cores and several bomb assemblies. The USSR has lost a lot more than that.

If a terrorist does ever get his hands on a nuclear weapon, chances are it will be one of ours or one of Russia's.

If you're thinking of the Azores B-52 mishap it was my understanding that they were all recovered.

If the Russians have been as inept with their storage and handling of nukes as they have been with just about everything else, it seems far more likely that it'll be a surprise package from them, not from us.

"The Suitcase from Allah" scenario seems less likely, given that there are so few man-portable nukes available in comparison to say, medium-range or strategic warheads.

If you're thinking of the Scorpion or Thresher mishaps, even WE can't recover those, so it's highly unlikely that the RHIFWs can either.

Does anybody else find it noteworthy that the RHIFWs utterly despise Western society and technology ("Democracy is Un-Islamic!"), except where it is useful in their ambitions of radical Islamic hegemony?

mh

"The mouse does not know life until it is in the mouth of the cat."

[billvon 2,435]

>If you're thinking of the Azores B-52 mishap it was
>my understanding that they were all recovered.

Dec 5 1965 - an A-4E carrying an operational 1 megaton thermonuclear weapon rolled off an aircraft carrier and was lost. It sank only a few miles from shore near a Japanese island. Due to political considerations (we had agreed to not conduct nuclear operations near Japan) it was not recovered, and was not revealed until the 1980's.

Spring 1968 - the USS Scorpion, a nuclear attack sub carrying unnamed and uncounted nuclear weapons, was lost near the Azores and never recovered.'

> it seems far more likely that it'll be a surprise package from them,
> not from us.

"Inept" works both ways. Most USSR nuclear weapons, when examined by US arms inspectors during the SALT inspections, were discovered to have design or materials flaws that would have prevented them from working. We make better bombs.


>If you're thinking of the Scorpion or Thresher mishaps, even WE
>can't recover those, so it's highly unlikely that the RHIFWs can either.

Right, but given that terrorists recently learned how to hijack and fly 767's, and coordinate a four-way attack with them - relying on their ignorance/incompetence may be a mistake.

[Red_Skydiver 0]

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We are injecting an antibiotic of democracy into a body filled with Islamic disease, in hope of healing the region. Iraq just happened to be the most accessable point of entry.

Islamic disease? It's exactly that sort of statement that makes "the rest of the world" hate America(ns). It's the aloof attitude that alienates many people and causes tension. Unfortunately Americans are often perceived as brash in your face bigots who don't give a damn about anyone else except Americans.

What makes you say Islam is a disease?

[Adriandavies 0]

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Its all well and good to hate the US... Hey thats pop-culture right now so why not join in..

I've said this before on these forums.. We have had people on the ground training guerrilla forces for years. If there isnt a regime change in Iran Israel will continue to be targeted.

Why would that change if Iran was out of the picuture? Iran has backed Hamas financially, provides them weapons, intelligence etc for a long time. The groups would be alot less effective with that sort of backing... Do you remember the 3 ships that were stopped filled with weapons bound for Hamas from Iran? Probably not... Why would you? The United States are the bad guys right????

The law of unintended consequences:

America helps depose the democratic elected government of Iran, leading to the Shah taking power and becoming a western stooge (serving UK and US interests in the oil industry), before being overthrown by an anti US theocracy! Who would have thought that US meddling could have worked out so badly....?

[kallend 1,651]

Quote

Its all well and good to hate the US... Hey thats pop-culture right now so why not join in..

I've said this before on these forums.. We have had people on the ground training guerrilla forces for years. If there isnt a regime change in Iran Israel will continue to be targeted.

Why would that change if Iran was out of the picuture? Iran has backed Hamas financially, provides them weapons, intelligence etc for a long time. The groups would be alot less effective with that sort of backing... Do you remember the 3 ships that were stopped filled with weapons bound for Hamas from Iran? Probably not... Why would you? The United States are the bad guys right????

We refuse support to Hamas because they won't renounce violence. When did we renounce violence so we can be so self-righteous? We have the world's biggest arsenal and use it often.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[rehmwa 2]

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We have the world's biggest arsenal and use it often.

when I read the word 'arsenal' my mind suddenly inserted a picture of a nasal sprayer - certainly changed the read of the comment

But on reread, I can see that since about, ohhhhh, 6 billion people have some history or relationship, or ancestry, or live in country with the same, that obviously no actions for or against or on the behalf of, any other person or goal can be justified just with the simple - "how dare you try to do anything you self righteous nuts" type of argument. Even if the goal is positive or beneficial in general.

Honestly, what the hell is the peace corp doing? Unless each member spends at least a decade living in filth and starving, what RIGHT do they have trying to teach people to irrigate and farm? The nerve.

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants