Americans Don’t Have Confidence In ISIS Strategy, Polling Shows

A poll released by NBC News on Sunday (September 14) showed that the majority of Americans have no faith in the current strategy for how to deal with the group known as the Islamic State.

The ISIS polling done by NBC News, The Wall Street Journal, and Annanberg show a full 70 percent of Americans have no confidence in the strategy laid out by President Barack Obama in a speech last week.

The ISIS polling showed only 28 percent of those surveyed had confidence in Obama’s ability to defeat the terrorists, while another 38 percent said they approved of Obama’s foreign policy initiatives.

According to Democratic pollster Peter Hart, one of the individuals who helped craft and conduct the ISIS polling for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal, the polling shows skepticism by the American people.

“The bottom line: The president has made his case to the American public, and like other presidents who faced war and peace issues, support usually follows…. The difference in this military encounter is that, right out of the box, Americans are skeptical if this will work.”

The poll comes out on the same day The Guardian reported that Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates had signed on to support the United States’ announced air strikes to take place with a broad coalition. The air strikes would occur in Iraq and Syria and focus on ISIS targets.

Denis McDonough, the White House Chief of Staff, was quoted by The Guardian as saying that the coalition would include Muslim nations, including Sunis.

“It will be a coalition that includes not only our friends in Europe and Asia but also our partners in the region, Muslim states, Sunni states. We’re going to use our unique capabilities, air power, ISR [intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance] and our training ability to make sure Iraqi forces on one side and Syrian opposition forces on the other side of the border can take the fight to Isil.”

The ISIS polling and the announcement of a broader coalition come as one of America’s strongest world allies, the United Kingdom, awoke to news of a beheading of an aid worker by ISIS that has Prime Minister David Cameron vowing revenge on the group, The Guardian reported.

David Haines was captured in Syria in 2013 and was beheaded in a video posted online, similar to the first beheading that galvanized American government action in the region – that of American James Foley.

McDonough said on ABC News Sunday that the U.S. was at war with ISIS, just like it has been with terrorists since 2001.

[Image via Flickr Creative Commons]