Support Darfur Intervention

While many Americans take a cautious view of the U.S. role in the world, about half (51%) say they believe that the United States has a responsibility to do something about the ethnic genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan. Roughly the same number (53%) favors the use of U.S. troops as part of a multinational force to end the ethnic genocide there. Still, the crisis in Darfur is not registering with most Americans. Just 13% say they have paid very close attention to this story, with interest in the Iraq war (42% follow very closely) and news about the incoming Democratic leaders in Congress (29%) overshadowing interest in Sudan. However, those who have followed this story at least fairly closely are much more likely than those who have not to say that the U.S. has an obligation to take some action in Darfur. Fully two-thirds (66%) of those who have followed reports on Darfur very or fairly closely say the United States has a responsibility to do something about the ethnic genocide in Sudan; only about four-in-ten (43%) of those who have not closely followed the story agree. Read More