WASHINGTON: Only one in four Americans approves of the US strikes that killed Iran’s leader, while about half — including one in four Republicans — believe President Donald Trump is too willing to use military force, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll that concluded on Sunday.
Some 27 per cent of respondents said they approved of the strikes, while 43 per cent disapproved and 29 per cent were not sure. About nine in 10 respondents said they had heard at least a little about the strikes, which began early on Saturday.
The poll showed that 56 per cent of Americans think Trump, who has also ordered strikes in Venezuela, Syria and Nigeria in recent months, is too willing to use military force to advance US interests.
The vast majority of Democrats - 87 per cent - held this view, as did 23 per cent of Republicans and 60 per cent of people who don’t identify with either political party.
The poll was conducted during the strikes on Iran by the US and Israel, and closed before the US military announced the first American casualties in the operation.
Three US service members have been killed and five more seriously wounded since the strikes, which plunged the Middle East into a new, unpredictable conflict.
While 55 per cent of Republicans said they approved of the strikes and 13 per cent disapproved, the Reuters/Ipsos poll found 42 per cent in Trump’s party said they would be less likely to support the Iran campaign if it leads to “US troops in the Middle East being killed or injured.”
