Americans: War Is Coming, Cut Off Aid To Arabs

Most Americans think that the political upheaval spreading throughout the Arab world may wind up drawing the United States into a new large-scale war, a Rasmussen Reports poll found. The poll also found most Americans favor cutting off aid to Arab countries.

A new national telephone survey found that 58% of American adults believe the unrest in the Middle East will lead to a major war involving the US, with 26% saying it is "very likely."

Thirty-one percent see such a scenario as "unlikely," but that number includes only four percent who say it is "not at all likely."

Seventy-seven percent of Americans are "concerned that radical Islamic terrorists may try to exploit the unrest in these countries to further their violent aims," versus 18% who do not share that concern, Rasmussen Reports said. These numbers include 53% who are "very concerned" and only 4% who are "not at all concerned."

Just 29% of adults believe a change of government in any of the Arab countries undergoing upheavals will be good for the United States. However, the poll also shows that 67% of Americans say the US should "stay out of the situation over there."

Rasmussen Reports also found that most Americans want to end US aid to all Arab nations in the Middle East. Just over half favor continuing aid to Israel, however.

Only 20% of American adults think the US should continue providing foreign aid to Arab countries in the Middle East, while 58% say that aid should come to an end. Twenty-one percent are not sure.

Fifty-one percent of Americans, on the other hand, favor continued foreign aid to Israel. One-in-three adults (32%) oppose further aid for Israel, and 17% are undecided.

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