Bush squandered wealth of world sympathy since 9/11, poll shows

President Bush has squandered a wealth of sympathy around the world towards America since September 11th, 2001, with public opinion…

President Bush has squandered a wealth of sympathy around the world towards America since September 11th, 2001, with public opinion in 10 countries - including some of its closest allies - growing more hostile to the US while he has been in office.

According to a survey, voters in eight out of the 10 countries want to see the Democrat challenger, Mr John Kerry, defeat President Bush in next month's election.

The poll, conducted by 10 of the world's leading newspapers, including France's Le Monde, Japan's Asahi Shimbun, Canada's La Presse, the Sydney Morning Herald and the London-based Guardian, also shows that, on balance, world opinion does not believe the war in Iraq has made a positive contribution to the fight against terror.

The results show that in Australia, Britain, Canada, France, Japan, Spain and South Korea, a majority of voters share a rejection of the Iraq invasion, contempt for the Bush administration, a growing hostility to the US, and a not-too-strong endorsement of Mr Kerry.

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But they all make a clear distinction between this kind of anti-Americanism and expressing a dislike of American people. On average 68 per cent of those polled say they have a favourable opinion of Americans.

The 10-country poll suggests that rarely has an American administration faced such isolation and lack of public support among its closest allies.

The only exceptions to this trend are the Israelis - who back Mr Bush 2-1 over Mr Kerry, and see the US as their security umbrella - and the Russians who, despite their traditional anti-Americanism, recorded unexpectedly favourable attitudes towards the US in the survey conducted in the immediate aftermath of the Beslan tragedy.

The UK results of the poll conducted by ICM research for the Guardian reveal a growing disillusionment with the US among Britons, fuelled by a strong personal antipathy towards Mr Bush.

The ICM survey shows that if the British had a vote in the US presidential elections, they would vote 50 per cent for Mr Kerry and only 22 per cent for Mr Bush. Sixty per cent of British voters say they don't like Mr Bush, and this rises to a startling 77 per cent among those under 25.

The rejection of Mr Bush is strongest in France, where 72 per cent say they would back Mr Kerry. But it is also very strong in traditionally very pro-American South Korea, where fears of a pre-emptive US strike against North Korea have translated into 68 per cent support for Mr Kerry.

In Britain the growth in anti-Americanism is not so marked as in France, Japan, Canada , South Korea or Spain, where more than 60 per cent say their view of the United States has deteriorated since September 11th. But a sizeable and emerging minority - 45 per cent - of British voters say their image of the US has got worse in the past three years, while only 15 per cent say it has improved. There is widespread agreement that America will remain the world's largest economic power.

This is underlined by the 73 per cent of British voters who say the US now wields an excessive influence on international affairs.