WASHINGTON, Dec. 28 (UPI) — The number of Americans who believe the United States is losing the battle against terrorists is at its highest level since the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, a CNN/ORC poll released Monday indicates.
In the fight against the Islamic State, nearly three-quarters say they aren’t satisfied with the way the United States’ war on terror is going, a more than two-figure increase since the poll’s previous high of 61 percent in 2007.
About 18 percent of Americans believe the United States is winning, 40 percent believe the militant Islamist group is winning, while another 40 percent is undecided, the poll shows.
About 51 percent of those polled are confident President Barack Obama’s administration can protect Americans against terrorist attacks, lower than Obama’s high of 65 percent in 2010. Former President George W. Bush polled at 59 percent in 2006.
Americans are split evenly at 49 percent on whether the United States should send ground troops in the fight against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
About 59 percent of Democrats express unease with the Obama strategy against the Islamic State, while 86 percent of Republicans and 79 percent of Independents are dissatisfied.
A Republican majority of 55 percent believe terrorists are winning, while 52 percent of Democrats feel neither side has an advantage.
The poll was conducted weeks after the San Bernardino massacre, in which 14 people were killed by a couple inspired by militant extremism. The poll also follows the Islamic State’s coordinated attacks in Paris, where at least 130 people were killed. The poll was conducted Dec.17 through 21 and has 3 percent margin of error.
