In the Oval Office

The Obama administration has managed to alienate America's friends without picking up any new allies. Most intriguing is his loss of popularity on the Arab Street and in the Muslim world. According to a report published three days ago by the Christian Science Monitor:

New poll: angry at US, Arabs support an Iran nuclear bomb
A majority of Arabs said it would be a positive development if the Iran nuclear program built a bomb – a first in the Arab Public Opinion Poll. Pollsters say it's part of an anti-US Arab backlash.

By Howard LaFranchi, Staff writer / August 6, 2010
Washington

"A new poll of Arab opinion finds that for the first time a majority of the public across the region – including a sizable minority in Saudi Arabia – believes a nuclear-armed Iran would be a positive development in the Middle East.

The portion of the Arab population thinking that way has doubled since a similar survey a year ago, in part because of huge majorities this year in Egypt and Morocco. Egypt, which makes up a quarter of the Arab world, was not in last year’s survey.

The findings, however, say less about a change in Arab opinions of Iran than they do about a change in opinions about another country, say the organizers of the 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll: Arabs have soured on the United States of Barack Obama." -more

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