http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L23109558.htm
Sorry for any Germans out there, but I think this is a bunch of crock, but I also find it to be extremely hilarious. (SP?)
In a nation of at least 82 million people, they interview 1000 people to find 200 that hold that opinion, and it’s supposed to be representative?
Hell, if you looked hard enough, you can probably find 300 people who think that left handed people are responsible for all the evils in the world.
I agree that it’s a crock.
Hilarious? I think you should be concerned that your government has so little credibility in the rest of the world. In light of everything that’s happened since 9/11, I can’t blame them for thinking that 9/11 was a very convenient excuse to start a campaign of world domination. I think Germans are especially suspiscoius of overt displays of patriotism (bordering on nationalism) that has been going on in the US.
What do you mean, “bordering on”? 
Hey, 9/11 might have been a convenient excuse to embark on a campaign of world conquest (mwahahahahahaha ahem) that doesn’t mean they were behind it. Just sounds like 20% of Germans are conspiracy nuts. Assuming it was a proper poll.
And that’s fine.
I think that 9/11 was an act of insanity and hatred beyond anything any sane American politician would even consider, particularly considering the consequences to that politician if the truth of his involvement was ever even suspected.
This does not mean that I think the government has acted properly since then, in reaction to it.
And yes, we have no credibility. And it’s Bush’s fault.
Well, there are Americans that think we were behind the attacks also. But, that’s preposterous. Also, we aren’t out for world domination. Americans won’t stand for that.
I fail to see what’s “hilarious” about this. Remember that fifty-eight percent of Americans believe that Iraq was behind the terrorist attacks, so this poll would seem to show that the German public is generally more in touch with reality than certain other publics. Germany … it’s the sort of country that makes you proud to be part of western civilization.
58% of Americans thinking that Iraq was behind the terrorist attacks. Gee whiz. I would say that 58% might have said they thought Iraq has something to do with it, but not behind it. I would say that 99% of Americans believe Al Qaeda was behind the attacks.
Man, I can’t type fast enough to vent on this, besides, this ain’t the Pit!
I’ll just quote Stan: “Dude! What the !#&k is wrong with German people?”
Even Hitler liked Ice Cream.
Yes, of course it’s his fault- the entire world has changed its opinions of the US in a mere two years. I don’t think there’s been a president with any international credibility since before I was born :rolleyes:
It all depends on the polled group. Back in 1993, a poll of 993 adults and 506 high school students found that
Some people will believe anything you want them to, and a poll can be taken to justify those results. For the results to be newsworthy, you need a much larger sampling, IMO. 993 adults and 506 students is not a fair representation of Americans as a whole. They could be 506 students from Aryan Technical High School, and the adults could be from the KKK, for all we know. The sample group is too small to be credible.
Furthermore, the way the question is phrased makes a huge difference, since when the above poll was worded diffrently,
For the record:link to the original article in the paper that had commissioned the poll.
The question was:
“Glauben Sie, daß die US-Regierung die Anschläge vom 11. September selbst in Auftrag gegeben haben könnte?”
“Do you [think | believe] that the U.S. [government | administration] could have had the 9/11 attacks done [by a third party] itself”
The way the question was phrased was sloppy IMO. If it had been put to me I’d have needed to ask: “what, exactly, is the question about? About whether I think that the U.S. administration did that (no), or whether they might have done that (very improbable), or whether I think the U.S. administration is theoretically not incapable of doing that (yes, they are capable of anything that’s not against the laws of physics)?”
Anyway, 1010 people were polled by Forsa, a respectable company who are likely to know their job.
Answers:
overall: 19 % yes/72 % no
East Germans: 29 % yes/62 % no
West Germans: 16 % yes/75 % no
under 30 years of age: 31 %/62 % no
I think there are several factors in play:
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I assume that even for the part of the US population that does not approve of the current administration’s actions, these actions are comprehensible. They are not to a lot of Germans.
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another attitude towards the military: not being inclined to be much more understanding of the killing of x civilians by soldiers than of the killing of x civilians by terrorists, we tend to see 9/11 as morally equivalent to starting a small war.
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distrust of politicians: a lot of people see politicians in a very cynical light, distrusting authority by default. I have been city district councillor in a middling city’s downtown and you wouldn’t believe how many people thought we were doing that for our own gain (if only!)
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(unwarranted) historical analogy. We all learned at school how Hitler started World War II: by staging a Polish terrorist attack on Gleiwitz radio station and then declared that Germany had to defend itself against the Polish threat. From Hitlers speech on September 1, 1939: “From this morning, 5.45 am, we are shooting back. And now bomb will be retaliated against with bomb”. From the first Wehrmacht communiqué on that day: “… the Wehrmacht has taken on the active protection of the Reich. Fulfilling their mission to stop the Polish violence, …”
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resentment of what the graduates of the Donald Rumsfeld School of Diplomacy have been saying about us since almost a year. If you are pissed off at people you are not wholly rational in analysing their actions.
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(in east Germany) a residual effect: the U.S. Goverment are the people who (as you had been told for forty years) were poised to nuke you.
When it comes to issues of world domination, I for one am sure glad we’re interested in the opinion of the eternally pacifistic Germans, who would never try to conquer the world!
Vee Germans are not all zmiles and zunscheine.
It is the beginning of the entire world starting to doubt every word that comes out of a US President’s mouth.
Prior to the Bush regime of lies and bullypulpit politics, Germany, one of our staunchest allies, would never have considered the USA a pack of liars.
Going to war against world opinion, based upon information that was known to be false at the time…gee, I wonder why there might be some mistrust building around the world.
It is going to take gererations to undo this Bushshit.
“gererations” - a little known word meaning “generations typed wrong”.
“gererations” - a little known word meaning “generations typed incorrectly”.
Well, not entirely. Elfkin do have a point. A great many people were not inclined to believe much of what Nixon said, either.
On the other hand, there have been other presidents, this century, who have wielded considerable credibility in the international community.
…but the current one ain’t one of them. He has, in fact, made it pretty clear that he’s going to do whatever the hell he likes, and will justify it any way he pleases.
…but as much as I hate the guy, even I think he’d have had to be insane to hire or arrange or whatever the attacks on 9/11. Same goes for Israel. They’d be crazy to try and start Arab War 1 that way, as some newspapers have claimed is the case.
While I don’t think much of Bush… I don’t think he’s crazy.
One of the things I wonder, the paper(magazine?) that did the poll, Die Zeit, what kind of publication are they? Are they a legitement publication, or are they Germany’s version of the National Enquirier(With this poll being put next to an article about aliens dropping elvis into Munich Town Square)? If legtimate, are they on the fringes of German politics or centered well in the mainstream?