Majority Of U.S. Millennials Want To Send Troops To Fight ISIS, But Wouldn’t Go Themselves

Despite their support for sending troops, 85 percent of respondents told pollsters they would "definitely" or "probably" not be willing to join the military.

By Reuters | December 11, 2015

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BOSTON – A majority of U.S. young adults support sending ground troops to fight Islamic State militants, though fewer than one in five would be willing to serve themselves, according to a Harvard University poll released on Thursday.

Some 60 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 told Harvard’s Institute of Politics they either “strongly” or “somewhat” supported sending ground troops to combat militants who have seized territory in Syria and Iraq, as well as orchestrated or inspired deadly attacks in California.

Support has risen markedly from 47 percent before the Nov. 13 Paris attacks, in which gunmen and suicide bombers killed 130 people.

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Despite their support for sending troops, 85 percent of respondents told pollsters they would “definitely” or “probably” not be willing to join the military. Republican respondents were most willing to serve, with 24 percent responding that they would “definitely” or “strongly consider” joining the armed forces, if they had not already enlisted.

The poll of 2,011 people aged 18 to 29 was conducted Oct. 30 through Nov. 9, before the attack in San Bernardino by a married couple inspired by Islamic State militants who killed 14 people.

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This entry was posted in Daily Digest, Foreign Affairs and tagged ISIS, millennials, troops. Bookmark the permalink.

WTFUAMERIKA

Problem is they don’t have the backbone to fight for their country here either. Like they’ll soon have to be. You DO know we’ve been invaded by an insurgent army right?
- FUBO
  
  I know our government has been usurped by traitors at every level.
  - WTFUAMERIKA
    
    That’s why TRUMP. He represents our contempt. They don’t get it either!
ORAXX

It’s easy to be in favor of war if you haven’t any skin in the game. Anyone of military age who wants to take this country to war while remaining safely at home, needs to STFU. If we want to go charging off to another unwinnable Middle Eastern war, then bring back the draft, and raise taxes to what ever level necessary to pay for the adventure.
- junktex
  
  Well said.
  - ORAXX
    
    As a Vietnam veteran, I didn’t think I could ever possibly be in favor of the draft. However, watching the horrors inflicted on our service men and women through repeated deployments in Iraq made me rethink that. There was a grotesque disconnect between the realities of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the effect it had on the public. If this country is going to war, it needs to effect everyone.
    - junktex
      
      We need to reinstate the draft so that the chickenhawks have some “skin in the game”.I have several friends who support these bogus wars and they have kids and grandkids they treat like hothouse plants.Can you imagine the magnitude of the disconnect there?Reinstatement of the draft would cure that particular dementia.
      - ORAXX
        
        It would certainly get the public’s attention, and not allow them to remain blissfully indifferent. I would also severely limit the military’s ability to muzzle the press. Reporters were effectively neutered and prevented from telling the truth all through Iraq.
        
        junktex
        
        Good point.Guess that’s what “embedded” meant.Basically people need to wake up to the bogus nature of these disastrous wars and the neocon scum that promote them.
        
        FUBO
        
        Neocon scum who promote them? I don’t know where you were during the lead up to the Iraq war, but I remember a lot of leading Dems who were all for going to Iraq. The problem was as soon as we invaded, they turned, Now THAT is scum!
        
        junktex
        
        Neocon is not a partisan descriptor and many are not politicians(Kagan,Wolfowitz,Libby,Perle,ad nauseam).Hillary Clinton is a warmongering neocon just as Obama has proven to be.That old partisan crap is a hoax—on us.