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Americans duped into seeing North Korea as greatest enemy: Writer

This file photo taken on August 9, 2017 shows pedestrians walking past a huge screen in Tokyo displaying news footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The opinion poll which shows more than half of Americans consider North Korea their greatest enemy proves the effectiveness of the anti-North Korea propaganda by the US media, which falsely portrays the Asian country as an aggressive nuclear power, an American writer and retired professor says.

James Petras, who has written dozens of books on international issues, made the remarks in an interview with Press TV on Sunday while commenting on a recent poll which revealed that 51 percent of Americans consider North Korea the greatest enemy of the United States, a percentage that exponentially increased from 16 percent in February 2016.

Russia, China and Iran distantly trailed North Korea in the eleventh World Affairs poll that has asked the "greatest enemy" question since 2001. The poll was conducted by Gallup in the first 10 days of February.

“The polls reflect in large part the propaganda message that’s been most promoted by the mass media,” Professor Petras told Press TV.

“If one looks at the circulation of anti-North Korea propaganda in the media -- the false coverage which portrays it as an aggressive nuclear power -- you’ll find that there’s a high correlation between the amounts of anti-North Korean propaganda in the media and the public’s response, because the public does not have alternative sources to discuss what north Korea wants, what it is fearful of, why they have refused to denuclearize,” he stated.   

“I think the same thing goes with Russia as Russia has developed an alternative to the US occupation and invasion of Syria. As the Russians rejected the US-sponsored coup d’état in Ukraine, then you found that Russia became a popular country in the eyes of the public opinion polls,” the analyst noted.       

“The same thing is with China to a lesser degree. China is an economic partner of the US, and because of the enormous economic relations a larger number of American people do not view China as a great enemy of the United States,” he said.  

“And finally I would say with Iran, once it signed the nuclear agreement with the countries in the West the media began to lower its hostility to Iran at least in some substantial way,” he observed. 

“So I think the polls are really measuring the effectiveness of the propaganda,” the academic stated.

“So I don’t think one should take these polls too seriously because they are heavily biased by the influence by the media and the kinds of propaganda which is fed especially on the news programs in the television at the prime time,” he continued.  

“If one day or the other the media changes the message, polls will change,” he emphasized.

Tensions are running high between Washington and Pyongyang over North Korea's missile and nuclear programs.

The Trump administration claims it prefers a diplomatic solution to the crisis, but it also says that all options are on the table, including military ones.

Washington insists that any future talks should be aimed at North Korea giving up its nuclear weapons, something Pyongyang rejects.

North Korea has been under a raft of harsh UN sanctions since 2006 over its nuclear tests as well as multiple rocket and missile launches. Pyongyang has firmly defended its military program as a deterrent against the hostile policies of the US and its regional allies, including South Korea and Japan.

Some US officials have said North Korea has been making significant advances in its nuclear weapons using the thermonuclear test and progress in its intercontinental missile systems. They have threatened the North with a military response unless it abandons its nuclear weapons program.


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