Majority of Americans Want Iran War Ended Immediately and Oppose Ground Troops Deployment

A protest against the Iran war in Oregon on March 28. (Wikimedia Commons/outinthetrenches)

JAKARTA - The majority of Americans want the war against Iran to end immediately and are strongly opposed to sending ground troops, according to three major polls, as the US-Israeli offensive enters its second month.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll showed 66 percent of Americans support an accelerated end to the war, even if the goals are not fully achieved, while an Economist/YouGov survey put overall opposition to the war at 59 percent, with 28 percent in favor, while an AP-NORC poll showed 60 percent of respondents believe US military action has gone too far, Anadolu (2/4) reported.

Meanwhile, opposition to the deployment of ground troops is more pronounced. In all three polls, between 62 percent and 76 percent of respondents opposed sending American troops to Iran, with 86 percent in the Ipsos survey expressing concern about the risk to military lives.

Economic anxiety is the driving force behind the war fatigue. About 67 percent of AP-NORC respondents rated preventing gas price hikes as a priority, more than double the percentage prioritizing regime change in Iran, which was 33 percent.

Meanwhile, almost 77 percent in the Ipsos poll said they were concerned about the overall financial cost of the war.

Support is sharply split along party lines. Democrats oppose the war by an 88-90 percent margin, while 62 percent of Republicans generally support it.

But support among non-MAGA Republicans has plummeted from 56 percent to 33 percent in just two weeks, compared with 79 percent among MAGA Republicans who identify themselves, according to the Economist/YouGov poll.

MAGA, or Make America Great Again, is a slogan that US President Trump used in his campaign as president.

Public skepticism is deep about diplomacy and its results. Around 46 percent of respondents in the Economist/YouGov poll do not believe that peace negotiations are underway, 59 percent think a settlement within a month is unlikely, and only 30 percent approve of President Trump's handling of the conflict.

Despite the opposition, 65 percent of respondents in the AP-NORC survey still consider preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons to be very important.

It is known that the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran on February 28, killing more than 1,340 people, including the late Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, triggering tensions in the Middle East.

In response, the State of the Mullahs retaliated with drone strikes and missiles targeting Israel, along with Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf states hosting US military assets, causing casualties and infrastructure damage and disrupting global markets and flights, including tight control of the vital Strait of Hormuz through which 20 percent of the world's crude oil and liquefied natural gas pass.