NEWS

Greeks glum over US Afghan victory

Most Greeks are, to a greater or lesser extent, unhappy with the victorious American bombing campaign in Afghanistan, but feel that Greece did well to stay in NATO and have no fondness for Osama bin Laden, a poll found on Saturday. The survey carried out by Kapa Research on behalf of To Vima daily found that 7.4 and 21.6 percent, respectively, of respondents were «very satisfied» or «quite satisfied» with the outcome of the US operations against the Taleban militia. But 34.3 percent said they were «rather dissatisfied,» and 27.3 percent «very dissatisfied» with the American victory. On the other hand, 66.9 percent said that, irrespective of their feelings on the Afghan war, Costas Simitis’s government’s support for the US campaign serves Greece’s interests. And 47.4 percent said they felt Greek popular opposition to the war was «hypocritical,» given that the government’s position had proved «convenient» even to the war’s detractors. Some 37.6 percent said they thought opposition to the war was «sincere.» Furthermore, 70.5 percent said that, on the whole, Greece had done well to stay in NATO – although 19.7 percent said the country would be better off outside the alliance – and 68.3 percent expressed satisfaction with the improvement, over the past few years, of Greek-American relations. Turning to the main US target in Afghanistan, Saudi Arabian millionaire Osama bin Laden, 45.1 percent expressed dislike for the man. Some 38.6 percent said they neither liked nor disliked bin Laden, while 12.3 percent expressed liking for him.

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