The Shreveport Times: Lack of trust hobbles U.S. role as peace broker in Mideast

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Lack of trust hobbles U.S. role as peace broker in Mideast-by deWayne Wickham

Of all the European countries included in a recent Pew poll, only Great Britain(56 percent) have a favorable view of the US. More people in France, Spain and Great Britain said they believe that the US presence in Iraq is a bigger threat to world peace than is Iran. When asked whether they think North Korea or the U.S. presence in Iraq is a greater danger, the Pew poll found that far more people in Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Egypt and Jordan chose the United States.

These attitudes were measured before the current fighting between Israel and Hezbollah erupted. They were expressed before the Bush administration decided to expedite shipment of precision bombs to Israel to help it more effectively wage war against Hezbollah, which precipitated the current fighting when it ambushed an Israeli patrol and kidnapped two of that country's soldiers.