Americans oppose US involvement in Syria

WASHINGTON- Most Americans do not want the United States to intervene in Syria  even if the government there uses chemical weapons, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed late on Wednesday, in a clear message to the White House as it considers how to respond to the worsening crisis. 

Only 10 per cent of those surveyed in the online poll said the United States should become involved in the fighting. Sixty-one per cent opposed getting involved. 

The figure favouring intervention rose to 27 per cent when respondents were asked what the United States should do if President Bashar Al Assad’s forces used chemical weapons. Forty-four per cent would be opposed. 

 “Particularly given Afghanistan and the 10th anniversary of Iraq, there is just not an appetite for intervention,” said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark. 

Many Americans are still oblivious to events in Syria. The poll found that about one-third, or 36 per cent, had neither heard nor read anything about the civil war there. 

Only 8 per cent said they had heard or read a great deal and 19 per cent said they had heard or read a “fair amount.” 

Obama did not rule out action – military or otherwise – against Syrian government. But he repeatedly stressed he would not allow himself to be pressured prematurely into deeper intervention in Syria’s two-year-old crisis.  The online poll of 519 Americans aged 18 and over was conducted from April 26-May 1. The survey has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.   

Source: Reuters

M. Wssouf