Better the Pew than the Pulpit....

My Dad swears by the Pew Research Center. After Jon's little bit tonight about "America is safer!" I thought you might like to take a look at this report that Pew did in March 2004. An excerpt:

A year after the war in Iraq, discontent with America and its policies has intensified rather than diminished... Perceptions of American unilateralism remain widespread in European and Muslim nations, and the war in Iraq has undermined America’s credibility abroad. Doubts about the motives behind the U.S.-led war on terrorism abound, and a growing percentage of Europeans want foreign policy and security arrangements independent from the United States.

And think. This was BEFORE the realization that we had 'bad intelligence'.

Oh, and by the way, THIS part of the report shouldn't be any surprise:

Americans have a far different view of the war’s impact – on the war on terrorism and the global standing of the U.S. – than do people in the other surveyed countries. Generally, Americans think the war helped in the fight against terrorism, illustrated the power of the U.S. military, and revealed America to be trustworthy and supportive of democracy around the world.

These notions are not shared elsewhere. Majorities in Germany, Turkey and France – and half of the British and Russians – believe the conflict in Iraq undermined the war on terrorism. At least half the respondents in the eight other countries view the U.S. as less trustworthy as a consequence of the war. For the most part, even U.S. military prowess is not seen in a better light as a result of the war in Iraq.