Poll: Most Arabs oppose US military force in Syria
The poll of seven Arab countries also shows declining popularity for Turkey and Iran and criticism of the United States for not sufficiently supporting Egypt’s ousted president, Mohammed Morsi.
WASHINGTON — A majority of Arabs support President Barack Obama’s opposition to US military intervention in Syria, according to a new survey that also shows a slight uptick in Arab views of US policies in general.
The poll by Zogby Research Services, released Tuesday, measured the views of 800 to 1,000 Arabs interviewed in person in May in each of the following countries: Morocco, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the Palestinian territories. (The margin of error was slightly over 3 percentage points in all seven.)
Although large majorities in Morocco and Jordan said ending the conflict in Syria was one of the top two challenges important for US-Arab relations, only 6% in Morocco and 8% in Jordan favored US airstrikes in Syria. US direct military involvement and even providing weapons to the Syrian opposition got low poll numbers in all seven countries, while majorities favored humanitarian aid to refugees and efforts to achieve a negotiated end to the conflict — which happens to be current US policy.
Jim Zogby, discussing the poll results at a symposium at the Middle East Institute in Washington, attributed the results to continuing hangover from the military interventions of the George W. Bush years.
