Tsunami aid boosts U.S. image in RI: Poll
Tsunami aid boosts U.S. image in RI: Poll
Reuters, Washington
American aid to tsunami victims has produced the first
substantial shift in public opinion in the Muslim world since the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, reflecting more support for the United
States and less for Osama bin Laden, according to a poll released
on Friday.
The poll of 1,200 adults in Indonesia, the world's most
populous Muslim nation, showed backing for bin Laden has dropped
from 58 percent in 2003 to 23 percent today.
It also found that 65 percent of Indonesians view the United
States more favorably after the superpower provided military
logistic support and millions of dollars in private and
government aid for relief after the Dec. 26 tsunami.
The poll was carried out by the Indonesian pollster Lembaga
Survei Indonesia and commissioned by Terror Free Tomorrow, a
U.S.-based non-profit group that seeks to defeat global terrorism
by undermining the support base that empowers extremists.
"This is a stunning turnaround for the United States in the
war against terrorism," said Kenneth Ballen, president of Terror
Free Tomorrow, which claims endorsements from Thomas Kean and Lee
Hamilton, former chairs of the U.S. 9/11 Commission, and others.
"This is the first major shift in Muslim public opinion since
the Sept. 11 attacks ... (and) the American response to the
tsunami had a profound effect" on the poll results, he told a
program at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
Ballen said the poll showed for the first time ever in a
Muslim nation that more people favor U.S.-led efforts to fight
terrorism than oppose them (40 percent to 36 percent) and that
people opposing U.S. anti-terror efforts declined by half, from
72 percent in 2003 to 36 percent now.
Ballen said he would leave this weekend to conduct more
extensive research in Indonesia on these issues.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the acknowledged mastermind
behind the Sept. 11 aerial attacks on the United States, has
eluded capture and is generally thought to be in hiding along the
border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks dramatically revealed the depth of
anti-Americanism in the Muslim world, the United States has been
debating ways to improve its standing.