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Americans See Iran as Greatest U.S. Enemy
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - One-in-five adults in the United States regard Iran as a rival, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 25 per cent of respondents consider Iran as their country’s greatest enemy today.
Iraq is second on the list with 22 per cent, followed by China with 14 per cent, and North Korea with nine per cent. Less than five per cent of respondents mentioned the U.S. itself, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela as enemies.
After being branded as part of an "axis of evil" by U.S. president George W. Bush in January 2002, Iran has contended that its nuclear program aims to produce energy, not weapons. In June 2005, former Tehran mayor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won Iran’s presidential election in a run-off over Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani with 61.6 per cent of all cast ballots.
In December 2006 and March 2007, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) imposed sanctions against Iran after it failed to stop uranium enrichment—a process needed both to make nuclear weapons and produce electricity.
In October 2007, Bush announced a new set of unilateral sanctions against Iran, which include the designations of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as a "proliferator of weapons of mass destruction" and of the elite Quds Force as a "supporter of terrorism." The resolution has significant economic implications for Iran.
Last December, a summary of the latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) found with "high confidence" that Iran stopped an effort to develop nuclear arms in the fall of 2003. Ahmadinejad called this statement "a victory", adding, "The report said clearly that the Iranian people were on the right course. Today, Iran has turned to a nuclear country, and all world countries have accepted this fact."
Yesterday, Bush criticized Iran, saying, "Iran is pursuing technology that could be used to produce nuclear weapons, and ballistic missiles of increasing range that could deliver them. In 2006, Iran conducted military exercises in which it launched ballistic missiles capable of striking Israel and Turkey. Iranian officials have declared that they are developing missiles with a range of 1,200 miles, which would give them the capability to reach us right here in Romania. Our intelligence community assesses that, with continued foreign assistance, Iran could test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States and all of Europe if it should choose to do so."
Polling Data
What one country anywhere in the world do you consider to be the United States’ greatest enemy today?
|
Feb. 2008 |
Feb. 2007 |
Feb. 2006 |
|
|
Iran |
25% |
26% |
31% |
|
Iraq |
22% |
21% |
22% |
|
China |
14% |
11% |
10% |
|
North Korea / Korea |
9% |
18% |
15% |
|
United States itself |
3% |
2% |
1% |
|
Afghanistan |
3% |
2% |
3% |
|
Pakistan |
2% |
-- |
-- |
|
Russia |
2% |
2% |
1% |
|
Saudi Arabia |
1% |
3% |
1% |
|
Venezuela |
1% |
-- |
-- |
|
Other |
6% |
6% |
8% |
|
None |
2% |
1% |
1% |
|
Unsure |
8% |
7% |
7% |
Source: Gallup / USA Today
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,007 American adults, conducted from Feb. 11 to Feb. 14, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
