Summary
For this special topic poll, respondents were asked whether they approved of the way President Bill Clinton was handling the situation in Somalia, his decision to send 5,000 additional troops, and his decision to set a March 31 withdrawal deadline. They were also asked whether the United States troop withdrawal should be unconditional or conditional based on factors such as the possibility of an interruption in food distribution and another famine in Somalia. Other questions covered whether the United States should respond with a major military attack against warlord Mohammed Aideed's forces if American soldiers could not be freed through negotiations, and whether those American prisoners should be exchanged for the more than two dozen of Aideed's forces being held by the United Nations. The results of the poll were announced on the ABC television program "Nightline" the day the poll was taken. Demographic background variables include political orientation and sex.Cf: http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06290.v1