Muslims around the world strongly doubt the United States is trying to establish democracy in the Middle East and many think the Iraq war has done more harm than good, according to a new poll.
The Gallup survey, conducted in 10 nations that comprise 80 per cent of the world's Muslim population, found an average of only 31 per cent of respondents per nation believed US objectives were centered on establishing democracy.
Jordan and Egypt were the most sceptical with 66 per cent and 64 per cent, respectively, disagreeing with the perception. By contrast, 65 per cent of Moroccans agreed.
There was no data on Saudi Arabia for that question because pollsters were not allowed to ask it, said Gallup leadership consultant Dalia Mogahed.
Gallup released the results in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, at a conference sponsored by the Alliance for a New Humanity, a non-profit group that promotes social change and peace. Its president is motivational author Deepak Chopra.
The countries surveyed were Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia.
Of Iranian respondents, 29 per cent believed the war in Iraq had done more good than harm, the highest among all countries. More than 85 per cent of respondents in Jordan, Bangladesh, Morocco and Egypt said the invasion had done more harm than good.
On average, 76 per cent of all respondents per country thought the Iraq war has done more harm than good. When asked how the West could improve relations with the Muslim world, "respecting Islam" was the most often offered response, Ms Mogahed said.
"The thing they most admired about the West was the technology," she said. "The second thing they most admired was political freedoms. To say that they hate us because we are free is hard to argue, because they say that they like our freedom. They do hate the proliferation of moral corruption in the media, such as pornography and stuff like that."
The survey sampled about 1,000 people per country, producing a total sample size of about 10,000.