Do you really think the average American has any idea who Kofi Annan is, let alone that his son had some legal troubles? A low rating by the U.N. is not surprising; this is simply a reflection of the arrogance of Americans. We think we're smarter than everyone else. Even when we're wrong, we don't like being told so by a bunch of non-Americans. We can figure it out best by ourselves.

The U.N. gets positive ratings when it goes along with what the U.S. wants (so, in late 2001 they supported the Afghanistan war), and negative ratings when it doesn't (virtually everything since). America doesn't like George Bush anymore, but I bet that if you put a head to head poll of "Who do you like better Bush or the U.N.?", Bush would win in a landslide. Whereas if the U.N. were appropriately behaving as the American policy puppet most Americans want it to be, it'd get great support.

As a canadian forever listening to you're MSM (especially the right wing nuts) bash the UN and promote the elite upper class American business model that rapes and pillages around the world for profit, even at the expense of your own middle class, why am I not suprised by the polls. Of course the UN has its problems, but at least it is trying to help other people and nations. MSM have to bash the UN to allow their corporate buddies to make money around the world.

Like a spoiled brat in the schoolyard palyground the US wants to go it alone. It never wants to shack hands with the other kids. The US has never matured into an adults. Just a 9 yr old bully that beats up people for no reason that is now obese. To promote the UN, the US would have to learn how to cooperate and be friends will other children. Cheney & bush never. Obama & Gore ticket hopefully.

The MSM pattern of attacking the person rather than the proof continues. Just compare the attacks of Bush & Cheney on the anti Iraq war and the MSM attacks on the UN. Same stuf. Americans dubed again.

Bush Cheney and big oil, pharma, agri cartels that rule you're society want to rule the world. Through that directionless drunk fool George Bush, the genocidal Dick Cheney and the neocons with the full support of big business have tried and failed in Iraq. They will fail elsewhere. Indigeneous tribes and nations in Central and South America are waking up. Parts of the middle East are fighting back. African's see the duplicity in you're actions. Russia, China & Iran are forging alliances. Like a spoiled brat in the schoolyard palyground the US wants to go it alone. It never wants to shack hands with the other kids.

Just as america was expanded by the slaughter of millions of native americans in the first United States genocide and then economicaly build by black slavery, the modern america is built on the new slavery: the US military and the slaugther of yet another indigeneous people, Arabs in Iraq.

The world's scientists gave their starkest warning yet that a failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions will bring devastating climate change within a few decades. The IPCC report written by hundreds of scientists across the world and has been approved by every government. It leaves little room for doubt that human activity is to blame. The Bush White House privately laughed. The elites reflect that what is a rich person to do as they climb aboard their private jets for a weekend on the beach...and will say "Let them eat bread".

Moreover, is it not sad and ironic that as Bush, Blair, Howard, and Harper go in/extend missions into Afghanistan, Iraq and now Iran for oil and gas, those very same vices are increasing the exponentially rate of growth of climate change to the tipping point of our civilization?

When millions of Americans are eating grass for dinner and walking by useless SUVs littering the road, cause of misguided warped religious & economic fascist ideology only then, perhaps, in a few minds will a light bulb go off. Although no real electricity will come of it, maybe the realization that you're own elite were the thieves will finally dawn. Then perhaps you will have the revolution that should be stirring in the minds of people today.

In 2006 the generals spoke up, the complicit Iraq Study group had their say, the people voted in November elections and yet Bush & Cheney continue along their bloody-red brick road with saddlebags stuffed full greenbacks all the while lurching the US towards economic meltdown. And the democrats do not want to impeach the pair. What a joke.

Mr Malouf,
You are absolutely correct. Sad to say but corporate america, the neocons and the radical right wing evangelical religious Fundies have stolen and have been running america for a long time. They have a very sophisitcated computer system and complete assistance from all the business computers tracking the american people. Those right wing americans simply do not understand and continue to fool themselves that their power comes from God when in reality it comes from the republican party computer system and it's enormous ability to manipulate the american people. The business community, the neocon war machine and Big right wing religion including my own, the catholic church, has simply sold itself out to the simplistic polemics of the republican party, which in the long run are polemics that will benefit only the republican party, the endlessly greedy big businesses and the narrow minded neocons.When big religion discovers it has been totally USED simplly because it has the ability to deliver voters to the repub agenda for the world big religion will not only experience a severe shock at what it has done in selling itself and God for a few dollars and a bit of temporary political power but either go into meltdown or at the very least lose it's congregations for what it has done. My church, the catholic church did this once before when it sold itself out to Hitler and the Nazi party in 1933(Reichskonkordat) but did the very same sellout to the republican party before Reagan became president and is still totally committed to the repub party under the current pope. The merging of church and state is corrosive to both especially to big religion which has exchanged it's religios values for political power and fleeting power at that. Until religion in america gains some humility and divests itself from politics it has ceased to be a religion and become notrhing more than another political organization. Big religion in the U.S. has by giving itself over to politics has stryed far from the path of Jesus who never supported killing or the merging of church and state, which big religion now supports because it supports trhe republican greed and it's war/killing machine. Big religion by lending their religious mantle to the repub party for it's use in so many terrible ways has deluded itself and the repub party as they both are satisfied that they ar correct and beyond all reproach, an alliance that will certainly bring down religion and the repub party but it may also bring down america and the entire world for that matter. The U.S. has become drunk on military power and continues to use it for all the wrong reasons. Just because we can do it doesn't mean we should do it. But via big religion and the neocons and the repub party enough americans become drunk on power and unured to the killing they can so easily wreak upon the rest of the world. This will not change until those americans learn Humility and the idea that the U.S. must become a reasonable and responsible part of the world community. When america pays a big enough price in lives and dollars will those small but powerful group of american hegemonists learn that they have been corrupted by absolute power. 70% of americans are decent people it is the other 30% who are the source of all the trouble that is taking place in america and the world.

The scorn we Americans show to the UN is the direct product of the Republican Media Propaganda Machine.
The work of this Anti-American Reichwing Machine has been well done and is paying off big dividends for the Bush Crime Family and it's menions of terrorists worldwide.
The takeover of US media ownership by the RMPM began 35 years ago and the fruit of it's harvest is just now coming. The mindset of most unthinking Americans has beeen carefully molded to fit the needs of this Fourth Reich.