This poll (Question 2) presumes that all that needs to be rebuilt in Iraq is that which was damaged during the war. I'm still unsure if that's the case or is the US now attempting to help Iraq rebuild infrastructure suffering from neglect.
I don't find it surprising that a majority of Europeans do not feel that the war was justified. Nothing has really come out of post-war Iraq to change anyone's mind.
It's also not surprising to me that a majority of Europeans believe Israel is the biggest threat to world peace. I'm not sure I can agree with Prime Minister Berlusconi, who claimed that the question was "misleading".
For each of the following countries, tell me if in your opinion, it presents or not a threat to peace in the world?A selection of countries are then listed (apparently in random order):
- Afghanistan
- Iraq
- North Korea
- Saudi Arabia
- Somalia
- Syria
- Iran
- Pakistan
- India
- Libya
- United States
- China
- Russia
- Israel
- European Union
It's not misleading if your first language is English (from what I can see, the poll was conducted in French & English only). I suppose it's possible that people whose first language is neither English nor French may have misinterpreted the question, but the results from the two English speaking countries (UK & Ireland) are consistent with the rest of the EU.
But, just because I didn't find it surprising that EU citizens feel this way, does not mean that it's not outrageous that so many Europeans should feel this way. Why Israel? Estimates of civilian casualties from Russia's 8 year war in Chechnya are between 40,000-100,000. Some even say it's closer to 200,000. North Korea starves its own people in order to pursue nuclear weapons despite a determined attempt to coax them away from this development. Saudi Arabia exports the most extreme version of Islam, which clearly represents a global threat.
I wish I could explain these views. It would be easy to blame anti-Semitism, but even if true, that's insufficient. I don't think Europeans really fear Jews today - at least not as they did in the 1930s. I actually think it has more to do with the EU's past 50 years during which Europeans never had to defend themselves. Living as a cosseted protectorate of the US, Europeans have allowed themselves to develop completely unserious views as to how democracies defend themselves. I'm not sure that's really right either, but these attitudes, although unsurprising, are difficult to explain.
{I did find it surprising that Romano Prodi condemned the results of the poll.}
