People in Britain view the United States as a vulgar, crime-ridden society obsessed with money and led by an incompetent president whose Iraq policy is failing, according to a newspaper poll published on Monday.The American Embassy responded to the poll this way: "We question the judgment of anyone who asserts the world would be a better place with Saddam still terrorising his own nation and threatening people well beyond Iraq's borders."
The United States is no longer a symbol of hope to Britain and the British no longer have confidence in their transatlantic cousins to lead global affairs, according to the poll in The Daily Telegraph.
The YouGov poll found that 77 percent of respondents disagreed with the statement that the US is "a beacon of hope for the world".
As Americans prepared to celebrate the 230th anniversary of their independence on Tuesday, the poll found that only 12 percent of Britons trust them to act wisely on the global stage. This is half the number who had faith in the Vietnam-scarred White House of 1975.
A massive 83 percent of those questioned said that the United States doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks.
With much of the worst criticism aimed at the US administration, the poll showed that 70 percent of Britons like Americans a lot or a little.
US President George Bush fared significantly worse, with just one percent rating him a "great leader" against 77 percent who deemed him a "pretty poor" or "terrible" leader.
More than two-thirds who offered an opinion said America is essentially an imperial power seeking world domination. And 81 percent of those who took a view said President Bush hypocritically championed democracy as a cover for the pursuit of American self-interests.
Well, at least our foreign service folks are well-versed in Karl Rove talking points.
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