Americans Warming Up to the Idea of Bombing Iraq

Americans are increasingly inclined to say the United States has a responsibility to respond to rising violence in Iraq, a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll finds, although most also express fears about getting pulled back into a extended conflict there.

In a shift of opinion in recent weeks, those surveyed by 44%-41% say the U.S. bears a responsibility to "do something" about the violence. That's a shift from last month, when by 55%-39% a majority saw no U.S. responsibility to act.

That change could reflect news coverage of the plight of thousands of Yazidi refugees who fled advancing Islamic State forces only to become trapped on Mount Sinjar, at risk of dying from exposure, hunger and thirst. On Thursday from Martha's Vineyard, President Obama announced that U.S. airstrikes and humanitarian aid had succeeded in easing that crisis.