Obama Foreign Policy Gets Broad Approval from Voters

Americans overwhelmingly support President Barack Obama's foreign policy on issues ranging from drone warfare to Afghanistan, according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll.

While the public remains polarized on Obama's stewardship of the economy, an issue likely to dominate the 2012 presidential race, his management of American interests abroad appears to be an asset. Vast majorities of Americans approve of his use of unmanned drone aircrafts, his push to withdraw troops from Afghanistan and his decision to keep the Guantanamo Bay military detention center open.

Respondents supported the Afghanistan drawdown by 78 percent to 19 percent, a broad margin that should help shield Obama from Republican criticism that he is willing to compromise military gains for political reasons. Obama also won resounding approval for his aggressive used armed drones to hunt terror suspects, particularly among self identified Republicans.

Guantanamo Decision Angered Supporters

Obama has angered many of his 2008 supporters by reneging on a promise to close Guantanamo Bay, but most Americans appear to approve of the prison remaining open. While self-identified conservatives and moderates had stronger levels of approval, liberals still backed the president on Guantanamo by a margin of 56 percent to 39 percent.

Voters also trusted Obama to handle terrorism and international affairs over Mitt Romney by 20 percent margins, putting Obama in a position of strength against the Republican frontrunner. Romney has charged that Obama apologizes for American while weakening its military supremacy, charging that the feckless policies of the past three years have endangered America while amounting to waving the white flag of surrender.

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