Muslim Disillusionment With Obama Accelerates
From the brand-new Pew poll of international attitudes (PDF), just released half an hour ago: Among Muslim publics – except in Indonesia where Obama lived
Jul 31, 202035.2K Shares1M Views
“„Among Muslim publics – except in Indonesia where Obama lived for several years as a child – the modest levels of confidence and approval observed in 2009 have slipped markedly. In Egypt the percentage of Muslims expressing confidence in Obama fell from 41% to 31% and in Turkey from 33% to 23%. Last year only 13% of Pakistani Muslims expressed confidence in Obama, but this year even fewer (8%) hold this view. And while views of Obama are still more positive than were attitudes toward President Bush among most Muslim publics, significant percentages continue to worry that the U.S. could become a military threat to their country.
Imagine how much further the drop will be when the fallout from the Gaza flotilla debacle registers, to say nothing of the inability to close Guantanamo Bay, a prospective new indefinite detention system that in practice targets only Muslims, the accelerated war in Afghanistan, etc. And notice that the drop in Pakistani favorable attitudes comes after the passage of the largest Pakistan civilian aid package the U.S. government has ever enacted, the $7.5 billion, five-year Kerry-Lugar-Berman plan.
Paula M. Graham
Reviewer
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