There are new polls out which show the changing opinion of U.S. citizens and others about supporting the war in Ukraine.
Newsweek came first, with a very deceiving headline:
U.S. Troops Should be Sent to Ukraine, Third of Americans Say
The text describing the poll does not really support what the headline says:
A total of 31 percent of eligible voters in the U.S. support or strongly support American military forces heading to the battlefields of Ukraine, polling conducted exclusively for Newsweek by Redfield & Wilton Strategies has revealed.
A quarter of respondents neither supported nor opposed the idea of sending U.S. soldiers to Ukraine, with 34 percent against the suggestion. Just under one in ten respondents did not know.
Can anyone tell me why one would put the loosing share of the opinion poll into the headline?
What is surprising, at least to me, is the huge difference of opinions between the young and the older voters:
In the poll, those identified as "Millennial," between 27 and 42 years old, were most likely to "strongly support" committing U.S. troops to Ukraine. However, more respondents aged between 18-26 (Gen Z) said they would support the measure overall, 47 percent saying they supported or strongly supported sending U.S. troops.
Nearly a third of respondents aged over 59 said they opposed pledging U.S. troops to Ukraine, with a further 25 percent "strongly" opposing the suggestion.
The pro-war Gen-Z-lers should be put through a boot camp to be shipped off to Europe. I have no doubt that it would change their opinion in no time.
In contrast to Newsweek the CNN poll pice is correctly headlined:
CNN Poll: Majority of Americans oppose more US aid for Ukraine in war with Russia
Most Americans oppose Congress authorizing additional funding to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, according to a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS, as the public splits over whether the US has already done enough to assist Ukraine.
Overall, 55% say the US Congress should not authorize additional funding to support Ukraine vs. 45% who say Congress should authorize such funding. And 51% say that the US has already done enough to help Ukraine while 48% say it should do more. A poll conducted in the early days of the Russian invasion in late February 2022 found 62% who felt the US should have been doing more.
The CNN poll seem to contradict the one by Newsweek on the most important question:
When asked specifically about types of assistance the US could provide to Ukraine, there is broader support for help with intelligence gathering (63%) and military training (53%) than for providing weapons (43%), alongside very slim backing for US military forces to participate in combat operations (17%).
There is a strong partisan divide about supporting the war:
Within both parties, there are splits by ideology. On providing additional funding, liberal Democrats are far and away the most supportive, 74% back it compared with 51% of moderate or conservative Democrats. Among Republicans, about three-quarters of conservatives oppose new funding (76%) compared with 61% of moderate or liberal Republicans.
Independents mostly say the US has done enough to help Ukraine (56%) and that they oppose additional funding (55%).
The progressives in the U.S., like the Greens in Europe, are now the fringe that is most eager to pursue the war. They are, of course, also those who are the least eager to serve in the military.
It is interesting to compare that with a change in opinion of young Poles, aged 16-34:
There has been a fundamental shift when it comes to the stance that young Poles think their government should adopt in the war in Ukraine. In 2022, an overwhelming majority of 83% argued that the government should support Ukraine – but this number has changed drastically.
Now, 65% of respondents back continuous support for Ukraine, whereas the remaining 34% wish for Poland to stay neutral. Clearly, more than one and a half years into the current phase of the conflict and amid fears of other countries being pulled into the war, young people have become more cautious.
Those numbers are a month old. It is likely that the support has sunk further and will no longer be in a majority by the end of this year.
While no poll can be trusted fully they show in aggregate that the general opinion is moving away from supporting the war.
That gives some hope that any unnecessary prolonging of the war, which some neoconservative circles seem to wish, will be met by a strong opposition.