Poll: Few Americans Have Favorable View Of Muslim World

Photo: President Obama and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visit an Istanbul mosque in April.

From CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Shortly before President Obama departs for a trip to the Middle East, a new national poll suggests that one in five Americans has a favorable view of Muslim countries.

That view compares with 46 percent of the people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey who say they have an unfavorable opinion of Muslim countries. That's up 5 percentage points from 2002, when 41 percent indicated that they had an unfavorable view.

Meanwhile, three in 10 say they have a neutral opinion of Muslim countries.

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My Comment: 9/11, calls for Jihad, discrimination against women and non-muslim civilians in Islamic dominated countries, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where "allah akhbar" is a term heard most often in battle. My only surprise is that this total is not higher. In Europe, where Muslims predominate in many areas, the sentiment against the Islamic community is even worse .... and in some countries it is downright hostile (like France). In India, anti-Muslim feelings run north of 75% in the non-Muslim community.

I think what could change the dynamics appreciably would be if "moderate Muslims" were more vocal in condemning the actions of the extremist elements in their community. But they have not (with few exceptions), and because of this fact they have now inflamed a bad situation that is getting worse with time.