White House officials signaled Friday that President Barack Obama is ready for the United States to strike Syria in response to the country using chemical weapons, despite a rebuke from the British Parliament and deep reservations in Congress, NBC News reported. Nearly 80 percent of Americans want Obama to get congressional approval before taking military action in Syria, according to a NBC News poll. Fifty percent of Americans oppose the U.S. taking military action in Syria, but when the military action is defined to mean launching cruise missiles from naval warships, 50 percent favor it and 44 percent oppose it. Fifty-eight percent also agree that the use of chemical weapons by any country violates a "red line" that requires a significant response. The portrait showing Americans skeptical of intervention comes as lawmakers from both parties say Obama still has more work to do to sell Congress and a war-weary public on the wisdom of any possible U.S.-led strike there.
