Published time: September 12, 2013 16:25
AFP Photo/Anwar Amro
Nearly two-thirds of Americans say President Barack Obama’s handling of foreign policy is either equal to or worse than that of predecessor George W. Bush, a new poll reveals.
The results of a recent Reason-Rupe poll published on Tuesday
this week suggest that a majority of Americans — 64 percent —
consider the current commander-in-chief’s job performance with
regards to international affairs to be no better than Pres. Bush,
who kick-started wars in both Afghanistan and Iraq during his
eight years in the White House.
According to the results of the poll, 32 percent of Americans
polled said Obama’s handling of foreign policy is worse than that
of his predecessor, with 32 percent also saying it was “about
the same.”
Thirty-two percent of the 1,013 adults polled said they consider
Obama’s handling of foreign policy better than that of Pres.
Bush.
And as a potential United States-led military strike against
Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad’s regime remains a very real
possibility in the days to come, Reason’s Emily Ekins wrote that
Obama — who famously said he opposes “dumb wars” — could
launch the US into a situation that wouldn’t be supported by a
majority of Americans.
“Nearly three-quarters of Americans, 74 percent, say it would
be ‘unwise’ for the United States to launch airstrikes on Syria
without the support of the United Nations or Great Britain,”
Ekins wrote of the results.
Additionally, only 17 percent of those polled said it would be a
wise move to attack Assad’s regime to reprimand the Syrian leader
for the alleged use of chemical weapons last month outside of
Damascus. The White House said previously that Assad’s army
deployed chemical warheads on August 21 and in turn eradicated
more than 1,400 people.
The same proportion of Americans who put Bush’s foreign policy
record at-or-above that of Pres. Obama — 64 percent — told
pollsters that US airstrikes against Syria are not necessary to
protect America’s credibility and national security, despite the
administration arguing otherwise.
Pres. Obama had been considering a unilateral military strike
against Assad without approaching Congress for authorization, but
has in recent days formalized his request with the House and
Senate and has since postponed voting while diplomatic options
are considered by the UN and international community.
Foreign policy aside, however, the Obama administration isn’t
winning much support among the Americans polled by Reason and
Rupe. According to their questioning, 61 percent said they
believe the US is heading in the “wrong direction,”
compared to 28 percent who say America is, “generally
speaking,” on the right path.
Forty-three percent of those surveyed said they disapprove of
Obama’s overall job performance. Before the US ramped-up its
interest in the Syrian civil war, a similar poll conducted in May
found that exactly half of Americans polled approved of the
president’s job, signaling a 7 percentage point drop in a matter
of months.
At a press briefing on Wednesday, White House press secretary Jay
Carney acknowledge the president’s reluctance to use military
force in Syria after more than a decade of wars started under the
Bush administration.
“He knew and knows and understands that the American people
are extremely reluctant to get the United States involved again
militarily in the Middle East — not just in the Middle East, but
anywhere,” Carney told reporters. “But as someone who
deeply understands that, and who has spent four and a half years
as president getting us out of wars, he believes in the case that
he made last night, and I think he understands why there’s
reluctance and why there’s anxiety about potentially striking
Syria in response to the use of chemical weapons. ”
Copyright: RT