America's Slip is Showing

"As the war in Iraq continues for a fourth year, the global image of America has slipped further, even among people in some countries closely allied with the United States," reports Brian Knowlton, citing a new opinion poll by the Pew Research Center. The poll found significant declines in esteem for the United States in countries including Spain, India, Russia, Indonesia and Turkey, and smaller declines in France, Germany and Jordan. "Obviously, when you get many more people saying that the U.S. presence in Iraq is a threat to world peace as say that about Iran, it's a measure of how much Iraq is sapping good will to the United States," said Pew president Andrew Kohut.