Fewer Americans Support U.S. Military Intervention Abroad, Poll Shows

In a poll released today, a majority of American voters are opposed to U.S. military intervention abroad that is not related to direct threats to national security. The poll, conducted by Politico, shows a decline in support for intervention after over a decade of U.S.-led conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and the rest of the Middle East. As Business Insider reports: “Only 22 percent [of those polled] agreed with the statement that the United States, ‘as a moral leader,’ has a ‘a responsibility to use its military to protect democracy around the globe.’ Around 66 percent of respondents said the U.S. military should be ‘limited to direct threats to our national security.’” In addition, around 75 percent of survey participants supported a withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2016, while in a separate poll, only 17 percent support further U.S. action against Russia. The poll numbers were not divided by partisan affiliation and thus show a growing consensus of U.S. voters on both the left and the right against military incursions.