US Ground Troops ISIS Poll: Americans Don't Want Boots On The Ground, Unless Military Does

Americans are opposed to sending ground troops into Iraq and Syria to fight ISIS, but would support boots on the ground if military leaders decide that would be the best strategy to defeat the militants also known as the Islamic State, according to conflicting polls released Monday. What's more, most Americans said they felt the U.S. would eventually use ground troops against ISIS, despite President Barack Obama saying that wouldn't happen.

A majority of Americans -- 60 percent -- told a poll conducted for CNN they don’t want ground troops to be part of the combat operation against ISIS while 38 percent said they favor ground troops and 2 percent had no opinion.

A Wall Street Journal/NBC News survey asked respondents if they would favor boots on the ground “if it were determined by the military commanders that the best way to defeat the ISIS army was to use American military troops on the ground.” A plurality of respondents -- 45 percent -- said they would favor ground troops, 37 percent said they were opposed, 16 percent had no opinion either way and 2 percent weren’t sure.

Those polled said they feel certain ground troops eventually will be sent to fight ISIS. Three-fourths of respondents in the CNN poll said it was either very likely or somewhat likely the U.S. will send ground troops into Iraq or Syria. That percentage mirrors the 72 percent who said they felt America will end up using ground forces in the Wall Street Journal poll.

The Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll was taken Sept. 19-26. It interviewed 1,283 registered voters and has a margin of error of 3.15 percent. The CNN/ORC International poll conducted Sept. 25-28 interviewed 947 registered voters and had a margin of error of 3 percent.