As we mourn lives lost 9/11, let us also recognize who is responsible for the low opinion of America in the world

With a moment of silence and the dedication of a Pentagon memorial and a ceremony where the Twin Towers once stood, the United States on Thursday marked the seventh anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks which led the country into two wars.

On September 11, 2001 commercial airplanes commandeered by Islamic terrorists ripped through the twin towers in New York City, the Pentagon and crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Within little more than two hours, 2,975 people were dead.

Some were crushed and incinerated in the twin infernos. Three hundred New York firefighters and police officers died, trapped as they tried to rescue people from the horror of the collapsing towers. Still other victims worked at the Pentagon or were passengers on the planes.

All 19 Muslim terrorists died; many from Saudi Arabia. Credit for the 9/11 attacks was claimed by terrorist network al- Qaeda and its leader, Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan.

Yet today millions of people around the world do not blame Muslim terrorists, they blame the United States government for this atrocity and killing of thousands of its citizens. A survey of 16,063 people in 17 nations conducted by the Maryland-based WorldPublicOpinion.org found majorities in only nine countries believe al Qaeda was behind the attacks on New York and Washington. Millions of people around the world do not. Just 46% of the people who were questioned believed al-Qaeda was really behind the attacks; 15% said the U.S. government, 7% said Israel and 7% said there was some other perpetrator. As many as 25% said they did not know who was behind the attacks.

Incredibly even in Europe where one might expect truth of the tragic slaughter to be accepted there are many who are willing to absolve Muslims for the attack. Unbelievably al Qaeda was condemned by only 56% of Britons and Italians, 63 % of French and 64% of Germans. Astonishingly the United States government was blamed by 23% of Germans and 15% of Italians.

As might be expected, people in the Middle East were especially likely to place the blame for the attack on someone other than al Qaeda. However in some cases more in the Middle East actually recognized al Qaeda responsibility than did Europeans; though of course deniers thought Israel was behind the attacks. In Egypt 43% blamed Israel and 31% in Jordan. Perhaps out of pride for the Muslim "accomplishment", a mere 27% of Palestinians were willing to blame Israel. We regard Turkey as our friend but 36% of Turks also put the blame on Israel.

Home of most of our illegal immigrants, Mexico, counted as many as 30% believe the country they want to live in was behind the September 11th massacre and only 33% named al Qaeda.

Would you believe that the only countries with overwhelming majorities blaming al Qaeda were Kenya with 77% and Nigeria with 71%?

Liberals are found of pointing out the number of countries around the world that loathe the United States and attribute this to the Bush administration. Our prospective “savior”, Barack Obama, says he will change that, presumably by the power of his charm which captivates millions of Americans. But the truth is the liberals are really responsible for the low public opinion of us around the world. Films like Fahrenheit 9/11 and other Hollywood bilge mold international opinion, partly because many want to have a bad view of the United States anyway, and partly because there is no counter weight to the anti-American propaganda.

As we mourn the lost lives on 9/11, we should also recognize it is the liberals and other leftists among us who encourage the world fanatics to harm our country by continuing to bash it. When Islamic terrorists see so many here disapprove of America’s actions to protect itself, they are emboldened to join our domestic detractors but in violent ways not merely with words. It is no surprise that to many in the world Barack Obama is looked upon as a hero and want him to become president; he stands for appeasement and not for standing up to defend America against terrorism at home and abroad.