US public opinion is creature of media

The American public opinion is so much a creature of the US media, says Don DeBar, an anti-war activist and radio host in New York, press.tv reported.

DeBar made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV on Monday while commenting on a new Gallup poll which shows 18 percent of Americans consider Russia as the “greatest enemy” of the United States and view its military power as a growing threat to US interests.

The Gallup survey taken between February 8 and 11 also found that 70 percent of Americans have “unfavorable” views of Russia, while only 24 percent have a “favorable” opinion.

“This latest Gallup poll shows a swing in American public opinion with respect to Russia towards a negative,” DeBar said.

But “only 18 percent of American people despite a massive propaganda campaign that has been going now on for a couple of years, really since 2013 when Russia was vetoing US attempts to invade Syria” consider Russia the “greatest enemy” of their country, he added.

He said Americans who thought Russia was the greatest enemy were two percent in 2012 and nine percent in 2014, but now they are 18 percent.

The increase is “based on anger among the elite in the United States over Russia and China vetoing US attempts to bring a war on Syria,” he noted.

“It’s a kind of more remarkable that with all of the work that media has been doing here – every government official as well – to rip up anti-Russia war hysteria, they only have hard support among 18 percent of the populous,” he stated.

According to the poll, Americans’ perception of Russian President Vladimir Putin are even worse than their opinion of the country in general, as 72 percent have an unfavorable view of Putin and 13 percent have a favorable view.

Ties between Washington and Moscow deteriorated last year after pro-Western forces ousted Ukraine’s former President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.

The US and its allies accuse Moscow of sending troops into eastern Ukraine in support of the pro-Russian forces. Moscow, however, denies any involvement.

The United States and the European Union have imposed several rounds of sanctions on Russia, including visa bans and asset freezes.

M. Wassouf