American Citizen Support for Military Actions

Gallop recently released a historical polling summary of US citizen approval for various military actions looking back 20 years.

Obviously, the ongoing actions in Libya are on the low end of historical support. An extract of Gallop's analysis of implications is below:

Americans are more likely to favor than oppose the current military action against Libya, though they favor it to a lesser extent than prior U.S. military campaigns. The poll did not ask Americans' specific reasons for approving or disapproving of the efforts against Libya, so the reasons for their subdued support are not clear.

There is a lack of a significant Republican-Democratic difference that could be the net result of Republicans' inclination to support military action and Democrats' inclination to support the Obama administration's policies. Gallup found similar dynamics at play during the Vietnam and Korean Wars.

In the past, the public's views on military actions have changed in response to the progress or lack of progress of those ventures. Usually, the longer the United States is involved in a military operation, such as the recent war in Iraq, the more support drops.