Aussies have lower opinion of U.S.

SYDNEY, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- A new poll suggests Australians have lost confidence in the United States' ability to manage international affairs.

The survey of 1,200 Australians, carried out in July by the U.S. Studies Center at the University of Sydney, found that the war in Iraq has severely damaged the credibility of the United States and U.S. President George Bush in the minds of many Australians, the Voice of America reported Wednesday.

"The proportion of people thinking the U.S. can deal well with international problems has really dropped from 66 percent before the war to 37 percent," said Professor Murray Goot of the University of Sydney. "Those are the sort of measures we're looking at and it's because of the Iraq War and because of President Bush. President Bush's popularity is -- whichever way we measured it -- it's barely above 25 percent."

Nearly three-quarters of those polled said they believe Australia's participation in the U.S.-led war on terror has made it a more appealing target to extremists.

Half of the respondents expressed disapproval for the U.S.-led campaign in Afghanistan.