I know I'm probably beginning to sound like a broken record on the Syrian attack issue, but I think it's important, and I think it would be a serious mistake for the United States to attack Syria. I just think it's crazy to even consider another military action against anyone at a time when Congress is telling us we don't even have enough money to take care of our own citizens, and I'm not at all sure there is any national interest for the U.S. in attacking Syria (since we don't have any friends on either side in that conflict). In fact, such an action would probably just kill innocent men, women, and children, and create new enemies for this country.In addition, it's becoming clear that the other developed nations are not going to help with such an attack. The United Kingdom's parliament has already voted to not allow their government to participate, and Germany is not even considering any participation in the proposed attack -- and those are supposedly our two closest allies. France is the only European country that has said it is willing to participate, and they are now beginning to waffle by putting new conditions on their involvement.
Now their is new evidence that the opposition to an attack on Syria is growing in this country. A new Pew Research Center survey (top two charts above) show that in just about a week the opposition has grown from 48% to 63% (and that opposition now cuts across all political preferences). The approval for a strike has remained constant at about 28%-29%, but the undecideds are breaking big against approving of an attack.
And this is verified by CNN's first poll on this subject. The CNN/Opinion Research Poll shows that 69% (or about 7 out of 10 Americans) do not believe it is in the United State's national interest to attack Syria. And 71% say they would not approve of an attack if Congress does not approve it. But the most remarkable number is that a majority (about 55%) say they would not approve of an attack against Syria even if Congress does approve the strike.
The president still seems determined to attack Syria, and on Tuesday he will speak to the nation in an effort to win support for his proposal. But he has his work cut out for himself, because he is fighting against a rising tide of public opinion against any new military adventure.
The Pew Research Center survey was conducted between September 4th and 8th of a nationwide sample of 1,506 adults, with a 2.9 point margin of error.
The CNN/Opinion Research Poll was conducted between September 6th and 8th of 1,022 nationwide adults,with a 3 point margin of error.
