Opposing Anti-Americanism: “America in the World”

“America in the World” is a new website set up by Europeans to counter anti-Americanism.  From the site:

AmericaInTheWorld is a London-based international alliance opposed to anti-Americanism as well as American isolationism. Via our briefings, we aim to provide the number one factual resource for those who wish to hear the case against anti-Americanism. Our goal is to increase understanding of America, to debunk some of the leading myths about the United States, and to make a positive case for a continuing leading role for America in the world.

AmericaInTheWorld is launched and funded by supporters of America in London and around the world. AmericaInTheWorld receives no American government or corporate funding.

David Cameron, leader of the UK Conservative Party, will be guest of honour at the London launch of AITW in October 2008.

We plan a launch in Washington DC soon and in other major capital cities as more and more people sign our Declaration Against Anti-Americanism.

The  “Declaration Against Anti-Americanism” reads as follows:

“Ours is a better world because of America. The world is safer because of the American soldier. The world is wealthier because of American enterprise. The world is healthier because of American technology. No nation is perfect, but imagine the world without America. I reject anti-Americanism. I declare myself a friend of the United States of America.”

You can sign it here.

One of America in the World’s first moves was to commission a poll to check how ignorant the British are about America. Answer: Very. For instance:

A poll of nearly 2,000 Britons by YouGov/PHI found that 70 per cent of respondents incorrectly said it was true that the US had done a worse job than the European Union in reducing carbon emissions since 2000. More than 50 per cent presumed that polygamy was legal in the US, when it is illegal in all 50 states. . . .

The survey showed that a majority agreed with the false statement that since the Second World War the US had more often sided with non-Muslims when they had come into conflict with Muslims. In fact in 11 out of 12 major conflicts between Muslims and non-Muslims, Muslims and secular forces, or Arabs and non-Arabs, the US has sided with the former group. Those conflicts included Turkey and Greece, Bosnia and Yugoslavia, and and Kosovo and Yugoslavia.

Asked if it was true that “from 1973 to 1990 the United States sold Saddam Hussein more than a quarter of his weapons,” 80 per cent of British respondents said yes. However the US sold just 0.46 per cent of Saddam’s arsenal to him, compared to Russia’s 57 per cent, France’s 13 per cent and China’s 12 per cent.

This site is worth bookmarking, not least for the multipoint briefings it has which counter some very popular anti-American myths.  The briefings on “America and Race” and “Health Care in America” in particular have enough cold hard facts and figures to debunk the Leftist talking points of even the most deluded  anti-American propagandists.  Really, go have a look.

H/T Andrew Bolt