| Most Americans Name Just Five Countries That U.S. Should Defend Militarily |
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09/09/2010 13:15 (521 Day 08:02 minutes ago) | |||||
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The FINANCIAL -- Most Americans remain willing to help defend only five other countries in the world militarily, according to a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey. Not surprisingly they’re among the countries that most agree are America’s best allies.
Just like last year, Canada leads the list of 18 countries regularly in the news when Americans are asked whether the United States should provide military assistance to that country if it is attacked.
The other four – in order – are Great Britain, Israel, Germany and Mexico. The level of support is basically unchanged from last year’s survey with the exception of Mexico for which support is down slightly.
Eighty percent (80%) of American Adults say the United States should provide military help to Canada if it’s attacked, and just 14%s disagree.
But while 32% of U.S. voters say Canada’s nationalized health care system is better than private health care in the United States, 51% disagree and think the United States has the better health care system.
It looks like the British Petroleum oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico hasn’t spoiled the special relationship with Great Britain. If Great Britain is attacked, 74% say the United States should help militarily. Seventeen percent (17%) oppose military help like America provided in World Wars I and II.
The two surveys of 1,000 Adults were conducted on September 3-4 and September 5-6, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.
Sixty-one percent (61%) feel the United States should help defend Israel if it’s attacked, but one-in-four adults (26%) disagree.
Israel has U.S. support even if it makes the first move. Some have speculated that Israel will take military action against Iran’s new nuclear plant. Fifty-one percent (51%) of U.S. voters believe the United States should help Israel if it attacks Iran.
Seventy-seven percent (77%) of voters think any Middle East peace agreement must include an acknowledgement by Palestinian leaders of Israel’s right to exist.
Speaking of the world wars in the 20th century, 54% of Americans say the United States should provide military help to its old enemy Germany if the latter is attacked. Thirty-two percent (32%) don’t think that’s a good idea.
Despite increased tensions between the United States and its southern neighbor over illegal immigration, 53% of Americans still say the United States should help Mexico militarily if it is attacked. Thirty-six percent (36%) oppose such aid.
Most Americans don’t believe Mexico wants to stop the flow of illegal immigrants into this country and think the Mexican government should be asked to compensate U.S. taxpayers for costs incurred by illegal immigration.
In April of last year, 56% said Mexican drug producers are more to blame than U.S. drug users for the tide of violence that threatens to cross into the United States.
Forty-six percent (46%) of Americans think their country should help France if it’s attacked, but nearly as many (38%) disagree. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided.
Still, 60% of Americans now view France as an ally. In November 2004, 31% of Americans said France was an enemy in the war on terror.
Egypt is the only Middle Eastern country viewed as a U.S. ally by a sizable number of Americans, so it’s not surprising that 44% say the United States should provide military help to Egypt if it is attacked. Thirty-five percent (35%) are against such aid, and 21% aren’t sure about it.
While Americans rate Japan as a stronger U.S. ally than Mexico, they’re evenly divided over whether this country should provide military assistance to its other major World War II enemy: 43% of adults say yes, 44% say no.
Like last year, however, when it comes to North Korea, Venezuela, Vietnam, Russia and China, the majority of Americans say “no” to military assistance.
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