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Monday, March 07, 2005

World media buries a good news story - again 

I missed this story when it originally came out a few days ago, so hat tip to Jeff Norris for bringing it to my attention:

"In the first substantial shift of public opinion in the Muslim world since the beginning of the United States' global war on terrorism, more people in the world's largest Muslim country now favor American efforts against terrorism than oppose them.

"This is just one of many dramatic findings of a new nationwide poll in Indonesia conducted February 1-6, 2005, and just translated and released...

"Key Findings of the Poll:

"- For the first time ever in a major Muslim nation, more people favor US-led efforts to fight terrorism than oppose them (40% to 36%). Importantly, those who oppose US efforts against terrorism have declined by half, from 72% in 2003 to just 36% today.

"- For the first time ever in a Muslim nation since 9/11, support for Osama Bin Laden has dropped significantly (58% favorable to just 23%).

"- 65% of Indonesians now are more favorable to the United States because of the American response to the tsunami, with the highest percentage among people under 30.

"- Indeed, 71% of the people who express confidence in Bin Laden are now more favorable to the United States because of American aid to tsunami victims."
I guess the Yankee gunboat - or rather, aircraft carrier - diplomacy has paid off.

This is a major development, a substantial piece of good news, and a vindication of the Administration's policies, which means that of all the major media outlets in the world, only
ABC , "Boston Globe", and the "Washington Times" have carried the original Reuters story. No other American outlet, no European news provider, nothing in the Muslim world (except for the "Jakarta Post"), and only one mention in Australia.

Compare and contrast with the publicity given to any new poll that shows that "the foreigners hate us", "we have squandered the world's sympathy" and "anti-Americanism is on the rise." One could think that the media is biased or something.

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