View of UAE citizens.
By Zogby International
FrontPageMagazine.com | February 28, 2006
Here are a few key findings on the UAE from a 2004 poll conducted
by Zogby
International:
-- 73% of UAE citizens had a negative view of the United States;
only 14% had a favorable view.
-- Only 5% of UAE citizens felt that "democracy" was an "extremely
important" reason for the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Preventing the
spread of weapons of mass destruction was cited by 16%. "Oil" and
"domination of the Muslim world" were the main reasons offered by
UAE citizens for our invasion of Iraq.
-- 81% of UAE citizens felt Iraq was worse off after the war. Only
4% said it was better off without Saddam.
-- Asked to identify their "most admired" world leaders, 18% of UAE
citizens chose Osama bin Laden. "No one" finished first with
22%.
-- When asked how they viewed themselves, only 19% said they
identified first and foremost as citizens of the United Arab
Emirates, while 66% said they saw themselves as "Muslims"
first.
We should not be so quick to deceive ourselves about the nature of
this "friendship." The United Arab Emirates is not Great Britain.
Its citizens share neither our values nor our interests. Yes, the
rulers of the UAE have been cooperating with us, but they are
sitting on a powder keg of radical Islamic fundamentalism, making
it much more likely that Dubai Ports World, and thus the U.S., will
be susceptible to infiltration.
