(China Daily)
Updated: 2007-10-04 09:06

Australians value the US alliance but don't like US President George W. Bush and are sceptical about Washington's ability to deal with world problems, according to a national survey released yesterday.

The survey commissioned by Sydney University's US Studies Centre also showed most Australians opposed their country's involvement in the US-led military campaign in Iraq.

The centre's Alan Dupont said the survey showed Australians did not want to ditch the US military alliance, despite doubts about the foreign policy pursued by the Bush administration.

"Australians are clearly able to differentiate between the foreign policy of a particular US administration and the enduring strategic value of the US alliance, which still receives overwhelming support despite widespread opposition to the Iraq conflict," he said.

The survey found more Australians were favorably disposed toward the United Kingdom (87 percent) and Japan (75) than the United States (59).

When the 1,213 respondents were asked to name something they disliked about the United States, the most popular answer was President Bush followed by a "US belief it's a world watchdog" and could "impose its views on others".

Some 67 percent said they felt unfavorably towards Bush with only 4 percent expressing strong support for the US leader.

Almost two-thirds of those surveyed (64 percent) opposed Australia's involvement in Iraq and 50 percent did not want Australian troops in Afghanistan.

Close to three-quarters (73 percent) believed Australia's decision to join the US-led "war on terror" had made the country more of a terrorist target, despite the federal government's insistence this is not the case.

Only 37 percent responded positively when asked if they had confidence in the US "to deal responsibly with world problems," a sharp decline from the 66 percent recorded in 2001.

Almost half (48 percent) believed Australia needed a more independent relationship with the United States, down from 26 percent in 1973.

Yet the survey, taken in July, found that 79 percent of Australians considered the US alliance important and 92 percent expected security ties between Canberra and Washington would remain close.

"The survey suggests Australian attitudes towards the US are changing in important ways," Dupont said.

Three-quarters of those surveyed said global warming was as serious a global threat as Islamic fundamentalism, with 40 percent believing the threat of terrorism had been exaggerated.

Sixty-nine percent opposed the Australian and US refusal to set binding greenhouse gas emissions targets as a means of reducing global warming.