On Tuesday, the White House reiterated that there is "very little doubt" the Syrian government broke international arms control agreements and used chemical weapons against rebel forces last week.
"It is not around the question of whether the Syrian regime is responsible," Press Secretary Jay Carney said. "It is around the question of what is the appropriate response to this clear violation of international norms."
President Obama is weighing intervention, and the military is "ready to go." In an Aug. 13 poll by Reuters/Ipsos, more than 30% of Americans said they supported intervention if it was proven Syria used chemical weapons. But on Saturday — two weeks after the original poll and three days after the weapons were apparently used — the same pollers found that only 9% of Americans think Obama should act.
As Salon points out, comparing this astonishingly low level of support to other unpopular ideas or events in history isn't exactly sound. But it's worth putting the number in context.
At this moment, U.S. intervention in Syria is less popular than ...
1. Congress in August 2012.
2. Lindsay Lohan in 2007.
3. Polygamy.
4. Communism.
5. Gun laws right after the Sandy Hook school shooting.
6. North Korea.
7. Abortion.
8. Richard Nixon right before his resignation.
9. The Vietnam War.
10. The TSA.
11. Television news and newspapers.
