A new poll shows that for the first time ever, most Americans want the U.S. to send ground troops in to crush the Islamic State.
While 53% of Americans want ground troops in Syria and Iraq, 60% think that President Barack Obama has dealt poorly with terrorism. Upward of 68% are disappointed with the Washington’s lackluster military response. The numbers change dramatically when broken down by political party. An incredible total of 90% of Republicans don’t believe the U.S. has been aggressive enough against ISIS, compared to 66 of independents and 58% of Democrats.
Notably, 36% of Democrats do not support sending in ground troops, while 69% of Republicans want the deployment.
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Part of the dissatisfaction stems from the perception that the Obama administration has no coherent strategy and continually faces rebuke from within its own ranks.
Although officials in the administration have argued that ISIS is contained, the intelligence community disagrees, a disagreement brought into sharp relief by the recent terrorist attacks in Paris. An intelligence report, requested by the White House before the Paris attacks in November, predicts that ISIS will expand both geographically and in terms of supporters, unless it suffers some serious defeats on the battlefield.
Following the report, Obama requested a series of new options from Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford.
Obama’s speech on Sunday night in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks likely won’t help his numbers. He had no new strategy to offer, and only discussed what actions his administration has taken up to this point.
Republicans blasted Obama for failing to offer anything substantive and for failing to implicate radical Islam in the attacks. Front runner for the GOP nomination Donald Trump tweeted:
Is that all there is? We need a new President – FAST!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015
House Armed Services Chairman GOP Rep. Mac Thornberry told Politico:
What we need is not a political sales job but serious, sustained action. The marginal changes in military tactics he has taken since Paris demonstrate that the president continues to be reactive, rather than go on the offensive against a dangerous enemy.
The CNN/ORC poll was conducted from Nov. 27-Dec, 1, which is before the terrorist attacks in San Bernardino. The poll relied on a sample of 1,020 adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
This report, by Jonah Bennett, was cross-posted by arrangement with the Daily Caller News Foundation.
