Poll: 52% disapprove of Obama's handling of Iraq; 58% of Republicans support airstrikes

For the first time in Post-ABC polls disapproval of Obama for handling Iraq outpaces approval, 52 to 42 percent. His ratings tilted positive the last time Iraq approval was asked in September 2010 – 49 percent approving and 45 percent disapproving, with nearly one-third of Republicans giving him positive marks (31 percent). But Republican support has plummeted to 13 percent in the new poll while independents have also shifted negatively, with the share approving of his Iraq efforts dipping from 49 to 40 percent. Democrats have been more consistent in approval of Obama, though their level of support fails to match Republicans’ opposition.

Obama has struggled to reap credit from the public for ending the Iraq war even as nearly eight in 10 Americans – and a majority of Republicans – supported his 2011 announcement that all U.S. forces would leave the country that year. The current conflict may prove just as difficult to navigate in the court of public opinion, with few popular options on the table to help Iraq avoid being subsumed by the ISIS surge.