Poll: Only 21% Think Striking Syria in America's National Interest

Poll: Only 21% Think Striking Syria in America's National Interest

A new poll from NBC News released on Friday shows that four out of five Americans want President Barack Obama to seek Congressional approval before entering into military action in Syria. Half of Americans think the United States should not intervene at all; when the question is changed to ask about the launch of cruise missiles, 50 percent approve, with 44 percent opposing. Oddly, 58 percent of Americans believe that use of chemical weapons does violate an international “red line” requiring a response up to and including military action. Most interestingly, just 21 percent of Americans think military action against Syria is in the US national interest. Given the fact that the Syrian opposition is aligned with al Qaeda, such concerns are surely justified.

Thursday night marked the first publicly-known Congressional briefing by the Obama administration with regard to possible action in Syria. But White House spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden told NBC News that the Obama administration would not wait for Congress: “As we’ve said, President Obama’s decision-making will be guided by what is in the best interests of the United States.”

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