Global poll slams Bush leadership

US soldiers and the Iraqi police secure the area close to debris from a vehicle in central Baghdad yesterday. Insurgents went on a six- car bomb rampage killing more than a dozen in attacks aimed at the Australian embassy and the nascent Iraqi security forces, days prior the 30 January national elections. PHOTO: AFP

Only three countries - India, Poland and the Philippines - out of 21 polled believed the world was now safer.

The survey found that 47% now viewed US influence in the world as largely negative and such unfavourable feelings extended towards Americans as a whole.

None of the countries polled supported contributing their troops to Iraq.

"This is quite a grim picture for the US," said Steven Kull, director of the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA), which carried out the poll with GlobeScan.

"Negative feelings about Bush are high and are generalising to the American people who re-elected him."

On average across all countries, 58% of people - and 16 out of 21 countries polled - said they believed Mr Bush's re-election to the White House made the world more dangerous.

Most negative feelings were found in Western European, Latin American and Muslim countries.

They include traditional US allies such as Germany, France, Britain and Italy as well as neighbours Canada and Mexico.

The only European country to buck the trend was Poland, one of the new members of the European Union, which gave the thumbs up to both President Bush and the US.

Turkey topped the anti-Bush list, with 82% believing his re-election would be negative for global security.

The result is bad news for the president as Turkey is a US ally and the only Muslim member of Nato, says the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels.

Other predominantly Muslim countries - Indonesia and Lebanon - were also high up the list.

But, any warmer feelings in Indonesia towards the US following its tsunami relief operations would not show up as the poll was carried out before the disaster struck, says the BBC's Dan Isaacs.

Anti-Bush sentiments also appeared to be strong in Latin America. Argentina, with 79%, and Brazil, with 78%, follow Turkey in the list.