POLL: Almost Two-Thirds Back Attacking Islamic State Militants

President Barack Obama will lay out plans Wednesday to combat Islamic State to an American public that has grown increasingly hawkish in the wake of the militant group's videotaped beheadings of two U.S. journalists.

Almost two-thirds of respondents in a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll believe it is in the nation's interest to confront the group, known as ISIS and as ISIL, which has swept through Syria and northern Iraq. Only 13% said action wasn't in the national interest.

CLICK CHART to ENLARGE

The survey also found indications that more people were coming to believe the U.S. should play a more active role on the world stage, a shift from Journal/NBC surveys earlier this year that found war-weary Americans wanting to step back from foreign engagements.

Asked what type of military response was appropriate, some 40% of those polled said action against ISIS should be limited to airstrikes and an additional 34% were willing to use both airstrikes and commit U.S. ground troops—a remarkable mood swing for an electorate that just a year ago recoiled at Mr. Obama's proposal to launch airstrikes against Syria.

[...]

In moving cautiously to date, Mr. Obama may have underestimated the public's appetite for military action—especially after the beheading of the American journalists. The new poll found 61% said action against ISIS was in the national interest. Last year, after Mr. Obama accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons, only 21% said it was in the U.S. interest to take military action.

The president has "a country and an electorate, regardless of party, who seems to be ready to take the next step," said Fred Yang, a Democratic pollster who conducted the survey with GOP pollster Bill McInturff. That could give Mr. Obama a chance to reassert himself as a leader, the pollsters said.

CLICK CHART to ENLARGE

"The president seems to be controlled by events and not leading events," said Mr. McInturff. But with the public so ready to take military action against ISIS, he said, "it might allow him to perhaps use September and October to be a more strongly perceived figure than he's been."

In recent months, domestic issues have been overshadowed by crises across the globe—especially the rapid advance of Islamic State in Iraq. Mr. Obama has launched airstrikes to protect U.S. interests but has been criticized for not acting more quickly and decisively—a critique fueled recently when he said, "We don't have a strategy yet."

Moreover, Mr. Obama has presided over a significant decline in confidence in U.S. security: The poll found that 47% believe the country is less safe than it was before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks—up sharply from 28% just one year ago.

Read the full story HERE and watch a related video below:


View more of the Poll's Results HERE.

If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.