Found this survey report for all the Australians amongst us...and other interested parties. It details the opinions/views of both Australians and Indonesians, but these are mainly the Australian stats with some Indonesians stats also mentioned. Ive gone to the report itself for these stats. http://www.lowyinstitute.org/ Summary - 91% believe the Iraq war has worsened Americas relations with the Muslim world. - 69% believe we take too much notice of the U.S when developing foreign policy. - Only 25% regarded the development of China into a superpower is a world threat. - Indonesia remains a concern, with many considering Indonesia a military threat and source of islamic terrorism. 47% believe our relations have detoriated. 77% want closer relations with Jakarta. - Australians want the E.U to be more involved in world events then the U.S (although the differance isnt very much. Still want heavy U.S involvement). Japan wasnt far behind either - 69% agreed the U.S does not have "the responsibility to play world policeman" - 79% think the U.S is playing the role of world policeman more than it should. - 65% think strenthening the U.N should be a very important foreign policy goal. - 30% felt very safe, 56% somewhat safe, only 19% felt unsafe - Australians felt most "warm" towards. (Mmm not sure what "most warm" means exactly) 1) Great Britain 74 2) Malaysia 66 3) Japan 64 4) PNG 63 5) India 62 6) U.S 62 7) China 61 8) Israel 56 9) Iran 51 10) Iraq 50 - 59% believe relations with the U.S were improving (from obviously an already strong relationship) - 19% have a good deal of trust in the U.S. 41% somewhat trust the U.S (btw the Indonesian attitudes are the exact opposite with 48% not have very much trust at all - not surprising I guess and comes back to the first stat) - Overall Japan is most trusted (either good deal of/or somewhat) 73% (surprisingly high) 60% China, 60% U.S. Interesting to see a tie there... Indonesians rated Japan even higher at 76%. China 59% India 58% and the U.S at a very low 32%... - Only 14% thought the threat of terrorism had been reduced by the Iraq War. - 67% did not believe it will lead to the spread of democracy in the Middle East. - 85% said "the experience of the Iraq War should make nations more cautious about using military force to deal with rogue states" Some very interesting stats...Im surprised by some of them. I would have thought we would be more trusting of the U.S than Japan...and interesting to see Japan rank so highly with Indonesia...also interesting to see Japan and Malaysia seen "more warmly" then the U.S..although Great Britain as the highest is no surprise obviously. If you look at the stats in detail we are more "optimistic" than Indonesia on a range of fronts but actually more pessimistic about the Iraq War and the consequences of it than Indonesia...thats surprising. Its also obvious the U.S is in the bad books with Indonesia when it comes to trust and the War, although in general they still want U.S involvement in the world. Our attitudes towards China is also better than I would have thought, in terms of trust, threat, and how much involvement they have, particularly in Asia.... Overall interesting stats, but as with all stats, its only a very small sample of popular opinion...
One statistic you can be sure of: The Iraq invasion is a 100% disaster. It will become the modern day equivalent of Vietnam: Thousands of soldiers out in the middle of nowhere not even sure what they are actually fighting for. I keep on saying it but I'll say it again, it's going to get a whole lot worse out there before it gets any better. It's a fooking disaster.
Ya its broadly seen here in that light now. The only reason where still there is out of fear it will get worse if we leave...Thats basically the only reason now. Howard is a dick. Any chance we can send him out on some errand, on foot, outside the green zone? or perhaps southern Afghanistan. Ill even give him a B.B gun for self defense if you just take him of our hands. PLWWWEASE!!.