Seems that Washington is only talking about Syria, bombing Syria, possibly going to war with Syria, etc., these days. Unsurprisingly, this shows that like with most issues, our elected officials are pretty out-of-step with the people they’re chosen to represent. Roughly 60 percent of Americans from all walks of the political plane still very strongly oppose intervention in the Middle East’s latest conflict.
A recent poll found that as few as nine percent of Americans support military intervention in Syria, though that number came up some if it was revealed that Assad had used chemical weapons (at the time of the survey, it was a rumor).
A new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows that the “support” column has come up some, but most Americans are still not looking to get involved in yet another military conflict in the Middle East.
Out of 1,012 adults surveyed, six in 10 oppose missile strikes, and it didn’t really matter whether they were Democrats, Republicans, or anything in between.
There are a few caveats. Support for a potential strike would increase in the new poll if Britain and France sign on. Britain won’t, as the British Parliament shot down a proposal for military intervention last week. France is kind of on the line. Seems the best we’d get from them is moral support.
Americans also think that arming Syrian rebels is a terrible idea, since, you know, they’re al Qaeda. But per John McCain’s suggestions, President Obama already authorized doing just that back in June.
Of course, they’re going to do what they want to do regardless of us ( NSA apologism , anyone?) though President Obama did say he’d wait for Congress’ approval (even though he later said he doesn’t think he needs it ).
What do you think? Should the U.S. get involved in Syria?