Three other polls taken over the next week produced similar results. Moreover, it appeared that a majority of Americans favored increased involvement after the firefight, at least in the short run. Seventy-five percent favored retaliating against Somali warlord Mohammed Farad Aidid with a major military attack if American prisoners could not be released in a timely manner through negotiations, ABC found. Several polls showed that a majority did want to withdraw at some point and did not want to stay in until the country was fully stabilized. However, it does not appear that this desire to eventually withdraw was prompted primarily by the fatalities.
Earlier polls show that it was already in place before the fatalities occurred.
Thus it is not clear that the fatalities had the effect of changing attitudes, though they may have consolidated them. Furthermore, there is evidence that after the fatalities occurred, the reason for wanting to withdraw eventually was not necessarily prompted by an unwillingness to suffer casualties, but rather by a belief that most Somalis wanted the UN and the United States to leave not a surprising assumption after seeing the television images described above. Despite many Americans doubts about the wisdom of getting involved in the civil war, and despite the fatalities, fairly strong majorities continued to support the mission. Although no American troops have been killed due to hostile fire in Bosnia, it appears that the majority of the American public believes they have. This offers a unique opportunity to see the effect of these perceptions on attitudes about the operation.