WASHINGTON – Most Americans do not want the United States to intervene in Syria’s civil war even if the government there uses chemical weapons, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Wednesday, in a clear message to the White House as it considers how to respond to the worsening crisis.

Only 10 percent of those surveyed in the online poll said the United States should become involved in the fighting. Sixty-one percent opposed getting involved.

The figure favoring intervention rose to 27 percent when respondents were asked what the United States should do if President Bashar al-Assad’s forces used chemical weapons. Forty-four percent would be opposed.

President Barack Obama has shied away from deep U.S. involvement, although he declared last year that the use or deployment of chemical weapons by Assad’s government would cross a “red line.”

Many Americans are still oblivious to events in Syria. The poll found that about one-third, or 36 percent, had neither heard nor read anything about the civil war there.

Only 8 percent said they had heard or read a great deal and 19 percent said they had heard or read a “fair amount.”

The online poll of 519 Americans aged 18 and over was conducted from April 26-May 1. The survey has a credibility interval of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points.

A new HuffPost/YouGov poll also found that Americans don’t want to see the U.S. get involved even if chemical weapons are/were used. 

Only 5 percent of respondents said they would support sending ground troops to Syria, while 68 percent said they were opposed. And support for the military providing weapons to rebel fighters was only barely higher: respondents opposed doing so 51 percent to 12 percent. Conducting air strikes saw 49 percent opposed to 16 percent in favor. Opposition to each type of intervention crossed party lines. 

Forty percent of respondents to the new poll said they believe forces supporting Syrian President Bashar Assad have used chemical weapons against rebels there, while 6 percent said pro-Assad forces have not and 54 percent said they weren’t sure.

Poll respondents who said they did think Syria had used chemical weapons were more likely than those who did not or who said they weren’t sure to support military intervention. Just 24 percent supported arming rebels, 30 percent supported air strikes, and 10 percent supported ground troops. Respondents who said they had heard a lot about the conflict in Syria also were more likely than those who had not to support intervening. Still, even respondents who had heard a lot or who said they thought Syria had used chemical weapons were more likely to say they opposed rather than supported each measure.

Most Americans are not following the conflict in Syria very closely. In the HuffPost/YouGov poll, only 34 percent of respondents said they had heard a lot about the conflict. Another 48 percent said they had heard a little, and 18 percent said they’d heard nothing at all. A Pew Research Center survey released on Monday also found few Americans paying close attention to Syria. Other polls have found similarly low levels of support for taking military action in Syria.  

 – Reuters, Huffington Post