Poll: Nearly Half Support American Drone Use In Syria

The Global Hawk drone, a version of the Air Force's top unmanned spyplane, now in use by NASA for scientific research.
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The overwhelming majority of Americans are opposed to providing arms to rebels in Syria yet nearly half said they’d support the use of drones to attack Syrian government targets, according to new national poll numbers from Quinnipiac University out Thursday.

Fifty-nine percent of voters said they oppose the Obama administration’s decision to provide arms and military supplies to anti-government groups in Syria, while just 27 percent said they support the decision. A poll last month from Pew Research Center found a similar level of opposition to providing military aid. The Quinnipiac poll also showed that 61 percent of U.S. voters do not believe it is in America’s best interest to be involved in the Syrian civil war. A report earlier this week indicated that the U.S. has delayed sending arms to the rebels.

But Quinnipiac’s poll also found support for the use of drones or cruise missiles in Syria. When asked if the U.S. “should or should not use weapons which don’t risk American lives, such as drones and cruise missiles, to attack Syrian government targets,” 49 percent said it should while 38 percent said it should not.

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