Poll: Most oppose ground troops against ISIS as fight ramps up

A majority of Americans oppose deploying U.S. ground troops against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a new poll finds, even as the administration steps up airstrikes and sends in special forces.

Fifty-three percent oppose boots on the ground against ISIS in either Iraq or Syria, according to a Gallup survey, with 43 percent in favor. Four percent have no opinion.

President Obama has long resisted authorizing ground troops against ISIS, vowing to avoid another land engagement in the Middle East following the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

{mosads}In October, he approved that deployment of less than 50 U.S. special forces troops to northern Syria to help target ISIS militants. The president, though, says the troops won’t be engaged in combat and will only be assisting local allies on the ground.

The poll shows that the American public is still wary of deploying ground forces more than a year after a U.S.-led coalition began airstrikes against the terror group. 

Gallup found similar results in a September 2014 poll, with 54 percent at the time opposing ground troops to confront ISIS, with 40 percent in support. Six percent at the time had no opinion.

That 2014 poll, though, found that Americans favored other forms of military action against ISIS, with 60 percent backing combat operations and 31 percent opposing.

Concerns about Syria are growing after Russia began airstrikes in the country last month. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said the strikes are targeting ISIS, but critics say he is hitting U.S.-backed rebels and other groups to prop up the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a Russian ally.

Gallup conducted its latest poll of 1,021 U.S. adults aged 18 and older via landline from Nov. 4 to Nov. 8. It has a 4 percent margin of error.