Washington, Nov. 23 : A new CNN/ORC International survey has found a sharp split between the Republican and Democratic parties on key issues abroad, including the use of American military force, water-boarding, foreign aid to Israel and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On a bottom-line issue, about 6 in 10 Americans, or 58 percent of Republicans polled by CNN/ORC said the United States should be “ready and willing” to use military force around the world, while a nearly equal number of Democrats, 57 percent, said the country should feel “very reluctant” to flex its muscles.

According to The Politico, the survey’s results came just hours before a Republican presidential debate, hosted by CNN and The Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute, focused on national security and foreign affairs.

On Israel, more Democrats than Republicans believe the U. S. should decrease financial aid given for economic purposes, 29 percent of Democrats, compared with 13 percent of Republicans who said the same.

Members of the two parties also don’t see eye-to-eye on the issue of using water boarding as an instrument of interrogation.

A vast majority of Democrats, 83 percent, believe the technique is “torture,” compared with 44 percent of Republicans who consider it as torture.

Opposition to the U. S. war in Iraq is significantly higher among Democrats than Republicans — 81 percent of Democrats said they oppose the war, while just 44 percent of Republicans said the same, CNN/ORC found. There was a similar trend for the war in Afghanistan, with 71 percent of Democrats saying they are against the war, compared with 43 percent of Republicans who feel the same way.

Americans are also divided along party lines on how the country should deal with illegal immigration.

The majority of Democrats, 56 percent, think a plan that would allow illegal immigrants who have jobs to become legal residents should be developed, while an overwhelming majority of Republicans, 71 percent, support a plan that would stop the flow of illegal immigrants into the U. S. altogether and deport those who already are in the country.

Republicans show less sympathy for illegal immigrants than Democrats — just 6 percent of them said they were “very sympathetic” to illegal immigrants and their families, compared with 24 percent of Democrats who said the same.

On illegal immigration, the opinion of independents fell in the middle of the spectrum between the two parties, with 54 percent saying illegal immigrants already in the country should be deported and 20 percent saying they felt “very sympathetic” towards the demographic.

The poll was conducted Nov. 18-20 among 1,019 American adults and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. (ANI)