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           Public Opinion Presents Challenge for Obama on IS Strikes

   by Jim Malone

   With the U.S.-led coalition military campaign against so-called Islamic
   State militants likely go on for some time, opinion polls show
   Americans strongly support the air campaign for now.

   But a lengthy military effort against IS could test the patience of the
   U.S. public and that presents President Barack Obama with a major
   public opinion challenge in the final two years of his presidency.

   President Obama is well aware of the need to build and maintain public
   support for the military campaign against IS and he made note of
   congressional backing for the effort at the White House in recent days.

   "I've spoken to leaders in Congress and I'm pleased that there is
   bipartisan support for the actions that we are taking," he said.
   "America is always stronger when we stand united and that unity sends a
   powerful message to the world that we will do what's necessary to
   defend our country."

   President Obama also took his campaign to the United Nations where he
   made an appeal for international support.

   "There can be no reasoning, no negotiation, with this brand of evil,"
   he said. "The only language understood by killers like this is the
   language of force.  So the United States of America will work with a
   broad coalition to dismantle this network of death."

   But President Obama's critics at home say he needs to do more to build
   public support for the military campaign.

   A New York Times editorial said it was time for a "public debate"
   before the U.S. "enters another costly and potentially lengthy conflict
   in the Middle East."  The Times said Congress needs to specifically
   authorize the military action against IS, and it was critical of
   lawmakers for "shamelessly ducking" a vote on the issue before they
   left Washington to return home to campaign in advance of the November
   midterm elections.

   Maintaining public support

   The president did win congressional support for his plan to arm and
   train Syrian rebels as part of the military effort against IS shortly
   before lawmakers left Washington.

   Analyst John Fortier of the Bipartisan Policy Center said it will be
   important for President Obama to maintain both public and congressional
   support for the mission for the foreseeable future.

   "I think the president has to thread the needle," he said. "Some on the
   right will say he's not doing enough, whether it is boots on the ground
   or just an ineffective plan--that's the argument.  And on the left
   there will be worry that he is moving back into Iraq."

   Some conservatives are unhappy that President Obama has ruled out the
   use of ground troops to go after IS.

   Republican Congressman Peter King of New York told Fox News Sunday that
   limiting U.S. involvement to air power might prove to be a mistake.

   "I don't know why the president says up front that we are not going to
   put boots on the ground," he said. "Don't take anything off the table.
   Never let the enemy know what you are going to do or not going to do."

   Public opinion experts, like Karlyn Bowman with the American Enterprise
   Institute, say the president faces the challenge of maintaining public
   support for a dangerous, unpredictable military involvement that could
   stretch on indefinitely.

   "It's really hard to look into the crystal ball and say how long will
   support last," she said.  "But certainly if you look at historical
   public opinion, support will be sustained if the mission is clearly
   defined and he prosecutes it successfully."

   Recent polls suggest that support for air strikes against IS does not
   extend to the use of U.S. ground troops and that's important to keep in
   mind, said John Mueller, an expert on public opinion and war at Ohio
   State University.

   "Efforts that are pin-prick like and supportive and do not cost
   American lives might find a certain amount of tolerance, but not
   anything bigger than that," he said. "The American public just seems to
   be overwhelmingly fed up with getting into these foreign wars."

   Support can be fleeting

   Recent history shows the public is often initially supportive of U.S.
   military ventures, but that the support can wane fairly quickly.

   Gallup found that more than 80 percent of Americans supported the U.S.
   invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, while 64 percent supported sending
   ground forces into Iraq on the eve of the invasion in 2003.

   But a recent Associated Press/Gfk poll found that three in four
   Americans now believe both of those wars will be judged as failures.

   With congressional midterm elections in November, President Obama has
   an important political stake in ensuring the success of the military
   campaign against ISIL, said Michael Dimock, a public opinion expert
   with the Pew Research Center.

   "His handling of foreign affairs got better ratings than his overall
   job ratings for almost his entire first term," he said. "And now in his
   second term that is inverted.  Foreign policy is sort of a drag on his
   overall standing, not a lift."

   A recent New York Times/CBS News poll found that only 34 percent of
   Americans approved of his handling of foreign policy issues, the lowest
   figure yet on that issue.  A number of Republican candidates around the
   country are already weaving a critique of the president's foreign
   policy record into their speeches and debates.

   Midterm elections are often seen as a referendum on the president, and
   public perceptions of President Obama come Election Day in November
   will be shaped in part by the success of the U.S. military campaign
   against IS over the next several weeks.

   The military campaign against IS could also figure in President
   Obama's presidential legacy.

   He was elected in 2008 promising a new era of engagement with the world
   that would not be characterized by U.S. military involvement in wars
   like those in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The new president had hoped to
   refocus on rebuilding the economy on the home front, which was still
   reeling from a devastating recession.

   But now approaching the final two years of his presidency, President
   Obama is confronted with another military challenge in Iraq and Syria
   and the success of that mission will likely play a role in how
   historians eventually view his time in office.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/public-opinion-presents-challenge-for
   -obama-on-is-strikes/2462274.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/public-opinion-presents-challenge-for-obama-on-is-strikes/2462274.html