Americans Turn Against Iran War As Support Collapses
Barely three weeks into the war and Americans already want out
As we plunge into the third week of America’s own three-day special military operation, the polls are showing that Americans are not thrilled about this war, and want it ended sooner rather than later.
YouGov found support for the war in Iran to sit at 33% of Americans, with 73% of Republicans, 23% of Independents and a mere 5% of Democrats (Someone tell John Fetterman that) in support of the conflict.
On the flip side, 56% of Americans outright oppose the war with Iran, with Democrats being the most likely to say so at 88%, with 62% of Independents and 15% of Republicans standing alongside them.
Younger Americans are much more likely to oppose the war than their parents and grandparents are, as only 22% of those under 29 say they support the war in Iran, compared to 43% of those over 65. With that said, there’s majority opposition to the war among every age bracket.
Not only that, but only 31% of Americans believe the war is justified, while 48% say that it’s not justified. While MAGA supporters are on board, with 77% saying it’s justified, independents couldn’t be more different with only 20% saying it’s justified.
The only thing that the Trump administration could do at this point to make the war even less popular would be to deploy ground troops into Iranian territory, and if you believe the reports that have been coming out, that may very well be likely.
A whopping 14% of Americans support sending ground troops into Iran, with barely a third of Republicans supporting the move, alongside 8% of Independents and 3% of Democrats. Otherwise, 64% of Americans oppose the idea, with Democrats and Independents strongly against it, with even one third of Republicans also agreeing.
Unlike the war more broadly, support for deploying ground troops to Iran holds similar levels of support across all age brackets, with those between 45 and 64 holding the highest level of support at 18%. Otherwise, every age bracket has a minimum of 60% in opposition to the move.
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It should come as no surprise then that a comfortable majority of Americans want the war with Iran to be concluded quickly, rather than letting it drag on for much longer.
When asked whether the US should try ending the war quickly, even if it means some of its objectives haven’t been achieved (Which we still have no idea what the purpose of this war is) or whether it should keep fighting until all of those objectives have been achieved, 61% of Americans opted for the former.
Once again, Republicans are an outlier among all groups here, with 52% of Republicans saying the US should keep fighting in Iran until it achieves its objectives. Independents and Democrats were much more likely to say they should end the war now, at 66% and 85%, respectively.
The difference between the ages remains unchanged here, with support for ending the war quickly at 64% among those under 44 and support at 59% for those over the age of 45.
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It’s almost certainly the case that Americans have seen a mix of horrifying headlines, images, and the skyrocketing cost of gas, which has led many Americans to desire a quick end to the war. Yet, the humanitarian aspect cannot be ignored, nor are most Americans doing so.
46% of Americans say they believe the missile strike on an Iranian girls school that was hit at the start of the war, which resulted in 165 people being killed, was indeed caused by the United States, while only 17% say they don’t believe that was the case.
Democrats and Independents were more likely to agree that it was an American missile strike at 70% and 48%, respectively, while a fifth of Republicans also agreed with the assessment from news publications about the strike.
Yet again, when you look at the age breakdown, there’s little difference among Americans, with agreement that the strike was caused by their own military sitting between 44% and 49%.
Lastly, Americans believe the war will continue on for quite some time yet. When asked how long they think the war will last, only 19% said that it would be less than a month, with 3% being so optimistic that they believe it will last a week or less.
Most Americans are not that optimistic. Another 49% said that they believe the war will continue on for another month at least, but won’t last much longer than a year, while another 33% said that they believe the war is likely to last for more than a year.
Republicans were most optimistic, with 28% saying the war will be over in a month or less, compared to 13% of Democrats, while 43% of Democrats say the war will last more than a year compared to 15% of Republicans.
Overall, support remains limited and opposition widespread, with little appetite for escalation. While Americans differ along partisan lines on how the war should be handled, the broader consensus is that this is not a conflict they want to see drag on, and certainly not one they want to deepen.