Poll: Americans say 'no' to direct military action in Syria, N. Korea

NEW YORK, April 30 (UPI) -- A majority of U.S. residents say they oppose U.S. military intervention in North Korea or Syria, a New York Times-CBS News poll released Tuesday indicated.

Even though the public may not support direct military action in either country now, 70 percent said they favor use of remotely piloted aircraft to carry out bombing attacks against suspected terrorists in foreign countries, results indicated.

Thirty-nine percent of those surveyed said they were following the violence in Syria closely, representing a 15 percentage point drop since a March CBS News poll.

Sixty-two percent said the United States has no obligation to do something about the fighting in Syria, while about 25 percent said the opposite, results indicated.

Likewise, 56 percent of respondents say North Korea is a threat that could be addressed without direct military action, while 15 percent said the situation requires immediate U.S intervention. Another 21 percent said North Korea didn't pose a threat.

The Times said four in 10 responents cite the economy and jobs as the most important problems facing the country, while 1 percent said foreign policy.

The nationwide telephone survey was conducted with 965 adults Wednesday through Sunday. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.