Americans don’t support war like they used to

Even though most Americans believe that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad gassed his own people, a strong majority of Americans are against the United States authorizing a military strike against his regime — this according to a CNN/ORC International poll released Monday.

CNN reports:

More than seven in 10 say such a strike would not achieve significant goals for the United States and a similar amount say it's not in the national interest for the country to get involved in Syria's civil war.

Obama has had to contend with this increasingly war-weary public as his administration debates its strategy to stop the use and spread of chemical weapons in Syria.

When the United States invaded Afghanistan in 2001, which was shortly after 9/11, the American public strongly supported military action. But approval ratings among the American public for military action have never risen to such heights again.

Here is a look at America's dwindling support for military action abroad.

AFGHANISTAN INVASION

When the invasion began in October 2001, polls indicated that about 88 percent of Americans supported the effort.

Americans in Los Angeles call for military action in Afghanistan after a memorial service for victims of 9/11. (Lucy Nicholson/AFP/Getty Images)

IRAQ INVASION

Before the Iraq War in March 2003, polls showed that 47-60 percent of the US public supported the invasion. 

Sailor Jason Buerger hugs his son, Kyle, while his daughters wait before he is deployed to Iraq on March 3, 2003. (Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)

PAKISTAN DRONE STRIKES

American support for drone strikes in Pakistan is divided. In February 2013, 56 percent of Americans supported them, according to the Pew Research Center. But others have expressed concern over their legality, as well as mounting civilian casualities.

A US Predator drone armed with a missile stands on the tarmac in Afghanistan. (Massoud Hossaini/AFP/Getty Images)

LIBYA INTERVENTION

Before March 2011, when the US intervened in Libya, only 22 percent of American voters thought the United States should get involved.

A US warship fires Tomahawk cruise missiles targeting sites along Libya's coast on March 19, 2011. (Nathanael Miller/US Navy via Getty Images)

SYRIA STRIKE

Late last month, days after news broke of a chemical weapons attack in Damascus, Syria's capital, only 9 percent of Americans supported a military intervention in Syria. After a two-week PR push by the Obama administration and a national debate, still more than 70 percent of Americans did not support any kind of strike on Syria.