Americans still widely disapprove of how President Obama has handled the crisis in Syria, but the number who expect a US military strike is dropping quickly.
Even a week ago it seemed likely - though no longer inevitable - that the US would end up launching a military attack on the Syrian government in retaliation for its alleged use of chemical weapons against rebel forces and Syrian civilians in the suburbs of Damascus. After a recent deal cut between the US and Russian governments the chances of a strike are near nil, after the two agreed that Syria would disarm its chemical weapons in return for the US not attacking the country unless it violated a UN resolution calling for its disarmament.
The latest YouGov research shows that even before this latest deal that was made over the weekend, Americans were increasingly skeptical of whether President Obama would indeed order an attack on Syria. In a poll taking September 7-9, 46% of Americans still expected that the US would attack Syria. When the same question was asked September 11-12, only 22% now expected a US strike.
When Americans were asked whether they approved or disapproved of how the President was handling the crisis, 29% say that they approve and 54% say that they disapprove - marginally better than a week ago, where 26% approved and 57% disapproved. His approval among Democrats has increased, however, with 55% now saying that they approve of how President Obama has handled it compared to 45% a week ago.
Support for an attack is still largely unchanged, with 18% in favor of one and 68% opposing one, though support for an attack is strongest among Democrats, though even among them 60% oppose an attack compared to 25% who support one.
