Obama acknowledged the “profound questions — about who is targeted, and why; about civilian casualties, and the risk of creating new enemies; about the legality of such strikes under U.S. and international law; about accountability and morality.” He defended the program as “necessary,” “legal” and one that was “effective” in degrading terrorist organizations like al Qaeda, but he also said it was time to scale back its use.

The U.S. public has consistently supported the use of drone strikes — and that support has been bipartisan. In a February survey, 56% of Americans approved of them while 26% disapproved. That included 68% of Republicans, 58% of Democrats and 50% of independents.

A significant number of Americans did have concerns about whether the strikes endangered civilian lives. More than half (53%) were “very” concerned.

But the survey found less concern about the legal issues that dominated the debate in Congress, particularly over the targeted killing in Yemen of radical Muslim Cleric Anwar al-Alwaki who was a U.S. citizen. A day prior to Obama’s speech, the administration acknowledged for the first time, in a letter to Congress, that it had ordered that drone strike, and said past strikes had killed three other Americans.

On the legality issue, about three-in-ten (31%) of Americans said in the February survey that they were very concerned about whether the drone program was conducted legally.

A Gallup poll, conducted in March found, that while 65% of Americans supported the use of drone strikes to kill suspected terrorists in other countries, 52% opposed such strikes if the targets were U.S. citizens, 66% opposed drone strikes within the U.S. against suspected terrorists, and 79% said drone strikes should not be used within the U.S. against American citizens suspected of being terrorists.

The Gallup poll was conducted after some of those concerns were raised during a 13-hour filibuster on March 6 by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul aimed at blocking the nomination of John Brennan, an architect of the administration drone program, to be head of the CIA.

Lawmakers had also raised concerns about the backlash abroad over the increased use of drones during Obama’s administration in countries like Pakistan and Yemen.

A March survey in Pakistan by the Pew Research Center found that only 5% of Pakistanis approved of U.S. drone strikes targeting extremists, while 68% disapproved. A somewhat higher number (21%) approve of the use of drones strikes if they are carried out in conjunction with the Pakistani government, while 38% still opposed them, and 41% offered no opinion.

About three-quarters (74%) of Pakistanis said the drone strikes killed too many innocent people.

A 2012 survey of 19 countries plus the U.S. found that, in 17 of them, more than half disapproved of the U.S. conducting drone strikes to target extremists. The policy was particularly unpopular in majority Muslim nations, but it also faced disapproval in Europe and other regions as well.

The strongest disapproval was registered in Greece (90%), Egypt (89%), Jordan (85%), Turkey (81%), Spain (76%), Brazil (76%) and Japan (75%).

The only countries in the survey, aside from the U.S., where opposition to the drone campaigns was muted were Britain, where the public was almost evenly divided (44% approve, 47% disapprove) and India, where 32% approved and 21% disapproved, but nearly half (47%) had no opinion.

There was a significant ideological gap in Europe on the issue. A majority (56%) on the political right in Britain favored the use of the drone strikes, but just 31% on the left did so. Similarly, in France, 49% of those on the right approved of the strikes compared to 26% on the left. There were also double-digit differences in Italy, the Czech Republican and Germany.

 According to our “Trends in American Values” report released in June 2012, 83% agree that “we should pay less attention to problems overseas and concentrate on problems here at home.” That’s up 10 points since 2002, shortly after the 9/11 attacks, and the highest percentage expressing this view since 1994. At the same time, the percentage agreeing that “it’s best for the future of our country to be active in world affairs” has fallen from 90% to 83% since 2009, while the percentage disagreeing doubled from 7% to 14%.

The public is divided on the use of military strength.

According to our September 2012 survey, four-in-ten Americans believe the U.S. relies on military strength too much to achieve its foreign policy goals, and about the same number (44%) say their country relies on its military strength about the right amount. Only 10% say the U.S. relies on military might too little.

Most think the U.S. should be less involved in Middle East leadership changes.

A plurality of Americans would support taking military action against Syria if it is confirmed that it used chemical weapons against anti-government groups.

However, absent the concern about use of chemical weapons, Americans surveyed in Dec. 2012 said by a 63% to 27% margin that the U.S. did not have a responsibility to do something about Syria. A survey conducted in early March that did not include a question on chemical weapons found that 64% of Americans were against arming the rebels.

Americans largely approve of the use of drones to target extremists, unlike most other nations surveyed. 

Americans largely support the use of drones to target extremists in countries like Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.  A survey released February of this year found 56% of the U.S. public continues to support the drone program and 26% say they disapprove. Support for drone attacks crosses party lines: 68% of Republicans and 58% of Democrats say they support the strikes.

In the rest of the world, there has been strong opposition to American drone strikes. In 17 of 20 countries surveyed last spring, more than half disapproved of the U.S. conducting drone attacks. The policy was particularly unpopular in majority-Muslim nations, but it also faced disapproval in Europe and other regions as well.

 Overall, defending the nation from terrorism has remained a “top priority” for the U.S. public in recent years, although it has slipped from the top spot since 2002. In 2013, 71% of the public said it was a top priority for Congress and the president, behind strengthening the nation’s economy (84%) and improving the job situation (79%) and about the same as reducing the deficit (72%). (Explore  our interactive data visual on the public’s top priorities 2002-2013.)

Americans continue to support a tough stance to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

Our February 2012 report found strong public support for taking tough measures – including the possible use of military force – to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Nearly six-in-ten (58%) said it is more important to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, even if it means taking military action. Just 30% say it is more important to avoid a military conflict with Iran, even if it means that country develops nuclear weapons. These opinions are little changed from October 2009.

Iran and China are at the top of the public’s list of countries that pose the greatest danger to the United States. In a spring 2012 survey, 26% named China as the country that represents the greatest danger to the United States; Iran received the second-most mentions at 16%. North Korea, at 13%, was third.

In the same survey examining attitudes about global threats, 70% said Iran’s nuclear program poses a major threat to the well-being of the United States.

A majority of Americans want troops out of Afghanistan quickly.

Our surveys have found growing support since 2010 for withdrawing troops from Afghanistan “as soon as possible.” In October 2012, six-in-ten said they want the troops removed as soon as possible, up from just 40 percent in 2010. 

Read more Pew Research reports on Foreign Policy.

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In general, the drone strikes against terrorists abroad are supported by a majority of Americans but they draw widespread opposition in most other countries surveyed.

In a Pew Research Center survey conducted Feb. 7-10, 56% of Americans said they approved of the U.S. conducting missile strikes from drones “to target extremists in countries such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.” About a quarter (26%) of the public disapproved.

However, as some in Congress press the White House to be more transparent about the drone program — just as senators did during Brennan’s confirmation hearings on Feb. 7 — 31% of those surveyed said they were very concerned about whether the drone strikes were being conducted legally. Among those who disapprove of U.S. drone strikes, the number of those very concerned about their legality was 52%.

Questions about the legality of the drone strikes arose after the 2011 drone killing of Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awaki, a leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, an American citizen born and raised in the U.S. The White House has since made public its legal justification for targeting of an American citizen who posed “an imminent threat of violent attack” against the U.S.

Paul, as well as Sen. Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat, have pressed further, asking about the potential for targeting an American citizen on U.S. soil. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a March 4 letter that such an action would be “hypothetical, unlikely to occur” but might happen in an “extraordinary circumstance” after an attack on the scale of Pearl Harbor or 9/11.

Pew Research has not polled on the question of use of drones against an American target on U.S. soil, either in foreign countries or in the United States. But a Fox News poll conducted Feb. 25-27, found that 50% opposed using drones to kill a suspected terrorist who is a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil while 45% approved. Asked if the president, “on his own,” should be able to authorize such a strike against a U.S. citizen on U.S. soil, 63% answered no while 32% said he should be able to do so.

The Fox News poll also found that a majority (74%) approved of using drones to kill a suspected terrorist in a foreign country and 60% approved of using drones to kill a suspected terrorist in a foreign country “if the suspect is a U.S. citizen.” And 56% approved of the use of drones to kill a suspected foreign terrorist in this country.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll, conducted Feb. 1-4, 2012, found that 83% of Americans supported the use of the drone strikes overseas, and among those supporters, 79%  also approved their use against American citizens in other countries if they were identified as suspected terrorists.

Aside from the legality issue, the Pew Research survey in February found that 53% said they were very concerned about whether drone strikes put the lives of civilians in danger. Even among those who approve of the program, 42% said they were very concerned the attacks risk lives of innocent civilians.

Among those who disapproved of U.S. drone attacks, nearly eight-in-ten (79%) are very concerned about possible civilian casualties.

Other possible consequences from drone attacks spurred less public concern: 32% were very concerned they could lead to retaliation from extremist groups, and 26% worried they could damage America’s reputation around the world.

The support of the U.S. public for general use of drone strikes against suspected terrorists abroad stands in stark contrast to world opinion. Last spring, the Pew Research Center surveyed publics in 20 countries around the world, including the U.S., and found that in 17 of them, more than half disapproved of the U.S. conducting drone strikes to target extremists in places such as Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

The use of the drone strikes was particularly unpopular in majority Muslim nations, but it also faced disapproval in Europe and other regions as well.

Disapproval was strongest in Greece (90%), Egypt (89%), Jordan (85%), Turkey (81%), Spain (76%), Brazil (76%) and Japan (75%).

The only countries in the survey, aside from the U.S., where opposition to the drone campaigns was muted were Britain, where the public was almost evenly divided (44% approve, 47% disapprove) and India, where 32% approved and 21% disapproved, but nearly half (47%) had no opinion.