The United States still has a long way to go building friendships in the Middle East despite President Obama’s highly-publicized outreach to the Muslim world.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey asked adults nationwide to assess America’s relations with the key Middle Eastern countries in the news. Americans remain skeptical of most of those countries eight years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks as one war in the region winds down and another one intensifies.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia fare best in the eyes of many Americans, while Iran continues to be viewed as America’s number one enemy in the region. Of course, none of the Islamic countries comes close to the positive feelings most adults here have toward Israel.

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U.S. combat troops are on schedule to leave Iraq completely by the end of 2011, but 41% of Americans still view Iraq as an enemy of the United States. Just 17% percent view the country with its post-Saddam Hussein government as an ally, while 37% place it somewhere in between an ally and an enemy.

But then even as U.S. troops draw down in that country, 64% of U.S. voters say the war in Iraq is not over.

Forty percent (40%) of adults say Afghanistan is a U.S. enemy, as the Obama administration shifts more troops into the country to fight the revitalized radical Islamic Taliban there. Only 15% see Afghanistan as an ally and 39% as somewhere in between the two.

Voters oppose direct peace negotiations with the Taliban for now, and 83% expect the president will have to send more U.S. troops into Afghanistan in the next year or so.

The Taliban – and even Osama bin Laden – have sought refuge in neighboring Pakistan which has increased tensions between that Middle Eastern country and the United States. Still, just 28% see Pakistan as an enemy, although only 12% think it’s an ally. Most Americans (53%) put Pakistan somewhere in between the two.

However, 87% of U.S. voters are at least somewhat concerned about the security of nuclear weapons in Pakistan as the Taliban threatens to make political gains in the country.

Seventy percent (70%) of Americans say Iran is an enemy of the United States. Just five percent (5%) think it is an ally, and 20% say it’s somewhere in between.

When Americans are asked which country poses the greatest national security threat to the United States, the top position routinely seesaws between Iran and North Korea.

Americans have consistently questioned Iran’s motivations in developing nuclear technology, with most convinced that it is intended for the creation of nuclear weapons.

Forty percent (40%) of voters said in late June that Obama was not supportive enough of democratic reformers in Iran protesting the disputed presidential election there.

On the more positive side, 39% of Americans believe Egypt is an ally, and only nine percent (9%) say it is an enemy. For 42%, Egypt falls somewhere in between.

Saudi Arabia is the second favorite for many Americans, although 25% still see the desert kingdom as an enemy. Twenty-three percent (23%) say Saudi Arabia is an ally, but nearly half (46%) characterize it as somewhere in between.

A major sticking point in Middle East peace negotiations has always been America’s close ties to Israel, but undoubtedly that is explained in part by the sharp contrast between the views Americans have of the Islamic countries in the region and how they feel about the Jewish state.

Seventy percent (70%) of Americans say Israel is a U.S. ally, nearly twice the finding for Egypt, the most highly regarded Islamic country. Only eight percent (8%) of Americans say Israel is an enemy, and 16% put it somewhere in between.

Eighty-one percent (81%) of U.S. voters believe Palestinian leaders must recognize Israel’s right to exist as part of any Middle Eastern peace agreement.

Twenty-one percent (21%) of voters say the U.S. relationship with the Muslim world will be better a year from now, down five points from late June. Basically unchanged from the previous survey is the belief by 25% that the relationship will get worse and by 44% that it will be roughly the same a year from now.

At the beginning of June just prior to a high-profile speech by Obama in Egypt reaching out to the Muslim world, 28% of voters said America’s relationship with the Muslim world will be better a year from today. Twenty-one percent (21%) said the relationship will be worse, and 45% expected it to be the same.

To view complete list of countries and their standings among Americans, click here,

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