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Spc. Javier Aguilar and another scout cast big shadows as they pass through Ad-Dawr, Iraq, in the late afternoon in February, 2005.

Spc. Javier Aguilar and another scout cast big shadows as they pass through Ad-Dawr, Iraq, in the late afternoon in February, 2005. (Terry Boyd/Stars and Stripes)

Stars and Stripes asked its online readers last Monday whether it’s time to send substantial American ground troops to fight the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

Their answer: no.

As of Friday afternoon, 579 readers offered their opinion to the question “do you believe substantial U.S. ground forces should be sent to Syria and Iraq at this time?”

A total of 320 readers, or 55 percent, replied “no,” while 260, or 45 percent, said “yes.”

The results were different from those reported this week by CNN and Opinion Research Corp., following a scientific survey of 1,020 people nationwide.

CNN said the poll, which was conducted between Nov. 27 and Dec. 1, found that 53 percent of the respondents agreed that the U.S. should put “boots on the ground” in Syria and Iraq. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

The CNN poll was conducted before the Dec. mass shooting in San Bernardino, Cal., in which a Muslim married couple killed 14 people dead in an attack that police believe was inspired by the Islamic State. The two shooters were shot dead a few hours later by police.

In the Stars and Stripes survey, 28 percent said they were either on active duty or the Reserves or National Guard. Six percent said they were military dependents. The largest number, 49 percent, said they were veterans no longer in the armed forces.

More than 60 percent said they had not served in either Iraq or Afghanistan.

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