US public opposes Syria intervention as Obama presses Congress

   
President Barack Obama has failed so far to convince most Americans that the United States should launch a limited military strike against Syria in response to a suspected chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Tuesday.            

Some 56 percent of those surveyed said the United States should not intervene in Syria, while only 19 percent supported action, the online poll found. Some 25 percent said they did not know what course of action the United States should take.            

The findings are essentially unchanged from last week and indicated that Obama changed few minds on Saturday when he argued that Washington has the obligation to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for what the United States says was a sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,400 people, including hundreds of children, near Damascus on August 21.              

The poll showed that respondents were more likely to support a strike if they were specifically asked about the chemical-weapons attack. Even then, only 29 percent said the United States should intervene, while 48 percent opposed action. Another 24 percent said they did not know.     


REUTERS