Nearly one in three Iraqis thinks the United States is secretly supporting the Islamic State group, according to new internal U.S. government polling.

That’s just one of the troubling views that the U.S. State Department Inspector General’s Office found when it conducted a recent assessment of the “public diplomacy” efforts at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

The polling shows that about 40 percent of Iraqis believe that the United States is working to destabilize Iraq and control its natural resources.

About half of Iraqi Sunnis and Shiites now say that they completely oppose the American-led coalition that is conducting daily airstrikes on Islamic State targets and also providing train-advise-and-assist support for the Iraqi military.

There are about 3,800 U.S. troops deployed to Iraq and Pentagon officials say that number will likely rise soon.

Read More- Military Times

Image courtesy of AP