It’s now been more than two weeks since hundreds of people were taken hostage by Hamas and spirited away to the tunnels in Gaza. Obviously, the clock is ticking and we don’t even know how many of them may still be alive. Here in the United States, it’s important to remember that while this is primarily Israel’s war, some of those hostages are Americans. And American citizens were also killed during the initial terror attacks on October 7. With that in mind, what should the level of direct United States involvement in the conflict look like, assuming there is any? That’s the question that the Washington Free Beacon put to voters in a poll this week. Should we literally “send in the Marines” to bring our people to safety if possible? I’ll be honest and say I was surprised by the results. The proposal was remarkably popular among the American public.

An overwhelming majority of American voters—73 percent—support deploying Marines to rescue Americans held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, a Washington Free Beacon poll found.

The poll also found high levels of support for Israel’s retaliation against Hamas and for American aid to longtime ally Israel. Seventy-one percent say an Israeli ground assault in the Gaza Strip is justified, while 51 percent of voters support providing Israel with “arms, weapons, and financial support.” Sixty-nine percent support the imposition of economic sanctions on any state that aids or harbors Hamas terrorists. Just 23 percent say the United States should “pressure Israel to make peace.”

We’ve already seen numerous polls showing that American support for Israel and its right to defend itself is quite high. The exceptions are the noisy pro-Hamas protesters with their swastikas and Palestinian flags. But this question involves taking things to the next level. By sending the Marines into the Gaza Strip and almost certainly engaging Hamas fighters, we would instantly become directly involved in the war instead of only supporting it by proxy. And we would indirectly be engaging in military conflict with Iran at the same time.

Yet nearly three quarters of the country supports the idea, at least according to this survey. Respondents were also largely not satisfied with Joe Biden’s response to the war thus far. Only 38% approve of how Biden is approaching the situation while 44% disapprove. Of course, that’s not all that dissimilar to Biden’s overall approval numbers, so we shouldn’t be too surprised.

Sending our Marines into Gaza would be a complicated nightmare, though I’m confident they would be up to the task. The entire region is rigged with explosive traps and entering those tunnels would be a dark, dangerous assignment. We would have to send in a sizable force because Hamas still has a large though unknown number of fighters and many of them are in civilian clothes and mixed in with the general population.

We would also need to consult with Israel first since that is technically their territory. They have thus far insisted that they don’t need us to fight their war for them. But since these are our own people we’re talking about, I would imagine that Netanyahu wouldn’t push back too hard if we firmly requested his approval. Of course, that would require Joe Biden having the backbone to make the move and give the order in the first place. I’m not at all confident that he would do it.

One side note from that poll is also worth mentioning. Voters were asked how they would feel about Kamala Harris taking the reins if Joe Biden were suddenly no longer available. A whopping 71% said that Harris becoming President would make them “terrified,” “worried,” or “anxious.” Just 28% said it would make them “happy” or “excited.” Imagine being viewed by the public as a downgrade from Joe Biden under the current conditions. Yikes.