The United States military, under President Barack Obama's orders, may be carrying out airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq and Syria, but a new poll released on Monday indicated that many Americans are increasingly unhappy with the president's approach.
The poll, conducted by CNN and ORC International over the weekend, indicated that 57 percent of Americans disapproved of how President Obama dealt with the threat posed by ISIS. Alexandra Jaffe of CNN reported that it was a significant decline in support of the president's policies in regards to that terrorist group; the number was at 49 percent back in September.
"Fifty-seven percent disapprove of his handling of foreign affairs more broadly, and 54 percent disapprove of how the President is handling terrorism," Jaffe wrote. "Another 60 percent rate Obama negatively on his handling of electronic national security."
The poll sample included 1,027 American adults and had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points, according to CNN/ORC.
"This sample includes 626 interviews among landline respondents and 401 interviews among cell phone respondents," CNN/ORC wrote.
Jaffe reported that Obama's declining approval ratings in terms of national security came out after recent events that happened overseas. There were two shootings in Copenhagen, Denmark that left two people dead and five police officers wounded, while Egypt retaliated against ISIS militants in Libya after a video was released showing the beheadings of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians.
"Obama's Republican opponents have consistently made the case that the growing Islamic State threat is exacerbated by what they see as his weak leadership," Jaffe wrote.
However, even members of the president's party have expressed their discontent with how he has dealt with ISIS. Jaffe reported that 46 percent of Democrats said that things weren't going well in the fight against ISIS.
"The survey suggests Americans are warming up to the idea of sending ground troops to combat the terrorist organization," Jaffe wrote.
Jaffe conjectured that support for sending ground troops to Iraq and Syria to take out ISIS stemmed from the fact that the organization, along with those pledging allegiance to it, have carried out acts of inhumane brutality that have grabbed headlines around the world. The CNN/ORC poll showed this change of opinion within a short time frame.
"In November, just 43 percent supported deploying ground troops, while 55 percent of Americans opposed it," Jaffe wrote. "Now the number in support has ticked up to 47 percent, the highest level of support yet measured, with just half of Americans opposed."
When the CNN/ORC results were broken down by party affiliation, 61 percent of Democrats opposed sending troops to the region, while 60 percent of Republicans favored sending them in to take out ISIS. However, half of those who declared themselves as Independent opposed the measure, while 48 percent favored it.
However, the poll suggested that the president should get approval from Congress first to use military force against ISIS. The vast majority, 78 percent, favored this move, while 21 percent of those sampled opposed it.
