The United States is now back in Iraq; we’re sending a
scant number of Special Forces into Syria; and Secretary of Defense
Ashton Carter said last month that U.S. troops would see “more direct action on the ground”
in both arenas. Russia seems to be taking point in wiping out ISIS (and
possibly non-ISIS) targets, and our $500 million program to train
Syrian rebels was scrapped due to its abject failure. Overall, none of
what the U.S. has done has curbed the Islamic State’s influence or
expansion, which is probably why 60 percent of the country disapproves
of how the president is handling the situation (via AP):
Americans are souring on President Barack Obama's approach to fighting the Islamic State, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll that also found deep pessimism about U.S. prospects for success in Afghanistan and uncertainty about Obama's plan to leave thousands of troops there when he leaves office.
More than 6 in 10 now reject Obama's handling of the threat posed by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, where Obama has been escalating the U.S. military's involvement in a bid to break a vexing stalemate. Support for his approach has followed a downward trajectory since the U.S. formed its coalition to fight the group in late 2014. Last September, Americans were roughly split, yet disapproval has jumped 8 percentage points just since January.
