Majority of Pakistani's have negative view of US government (From Asian Image)

Majority of Pakistani's have negative view of US government

8:50am Friday 30th July 2010 in

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Despite billions of dollars in aid from Washington and a shared threat from extremists, Pakistanis have an overwhelmingly negative view of the US, according to the results of a poll released.

The survey also found that Pakistanis have grown less fearful of extremists seizing control of their country, perhaps reflecting gains that government troops have made against militants since early 2009.

Most Pakistanis want improved relations with the United States, according to the Pew Research Center poll. But most view the US with suspicion, support for American involvement in the fight against extremists has declined, and nearly two-thirds want US troops out of neighbouring Afghanistan.

Nearly six in 10 Pakistanis polled described the US as an enemy and only one in 10 called it a partner.

Public attitudes in Pakistan figure importantly in the Obama administration’s strategy for strengthening the US partnership with Pakistan to help defeat al Qaida and stabilise Afghanistan.

Another US worry is the prospect of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons falling into the hands of militants.

The Obama administration persuaded Congress this year to approve 7.5 billion US dollars (£4.8 billion) in aid to Pakistan over five years. Since the September 11 2001 attacks the US had provided Pakistan with billions linked to counter-terrorist work.

On a visit to Pakistan last week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced a raft of new aid projects worth 500 million dollars (£320 million).

Mistrust of the US among Pakistanis appears due in part to Washington’s decision to turn away from the South Asian nation after enlisting its support to defeat the Soviets in Afghanistan in the 1980s.

The US is not directly involved in ground combat operations in Pakistan, but some dozens of US troops are helping train Pakistani forces. The US also has an unacknowledged program of launching airstrikes from drone aircraft at Taliban and al Qaida figures inside Pakistan.

The strikes by CIA drones are widely unpopular in Pakistan. The Pew poll found that of those who had heard about drone attacks, 93% said they are a bad thing, 90% said they kill too many innocents, and 49 percent said they are being done without the Pakistani government’s approval.