Poll: Israel + Iran + U.S. = Axis of Negativity

Poll: Israel + Iran + U.S. = Axis of Negativity

March 5, 2007 :: They've Got Negativity in Common

Israel. Iran. USA. According to the results of a newly released BBC poll, those are the three most negatively perceived countries in the world, in that order. (North Korea took 4th place). Currently, these three nations are dangerously close to a calamitous, earth-shattering war that could even include the use of nuclear weapons (2 out of 3 possess them).

Here's the funny part. The IRNA [Islamic Republic News Agency] clearly relished the opportunity to report that the majority of the population views Israel as the #1 negative state. The only catch is that in order to do so, they would also have to mention that Iran itself closely follows as the 2nd most negative country, right? Nah...

IRNA simply omitted any mention of Iran in the poll, as if they weren't even included in the results.

Says the IRNA news item, "The poll ...showed Israel was followed closely by the US and North Korea". The headline conveniently points the finger at Israel and the United States.

Israel, US most negative influence on world: poll

Tehran, March 5, IRNA

Israel-US-Poll
Israel is perceived as having the most negative influence on the world, according to a poll conducted by BBC World Service radio.

The poll, to be released Tuesday, showed Israel was followed closely by the US and North Korea.

The radio survey of 28,000 people in 27 countries indicated that the country with the highest negative response was Israel with 56 percent negative.

The United States was seen as negative by 51 percent, followed by North Korea, perceived as negative by 48 percent of those asked against 19 percent positive.

Respondents were given a list of 12 countries and asked if they had a 'mostly positive or mostly negative influence in the world'.

The survey was carried out for the BBC World Service by the Maryland researchers and the international polling firm GlobeScan.

Over the three years the BBC has been tracking opinions about countries' influence in the world, most ratings have remained relatively stable.