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New poll reveals support for afghan war at new low among americans by 123wert sdfsf
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New poll reveals support for afghan war at new low among americans |
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WASHINGTON – Support for the war in Afghanistan has reached a new low, withonly 27 percent of Americans saying they back the effort and abouthalf of those who oppose the war saying the continued presence ofAmerican troops in Afghanistan is doing more harm than good,according to an AP-GfK poll. In results released Wednesday, 66 percent opposed the war, with 40percent saying they were "strongly" opposed. A year ago, 37 percentfavored the war, and in the spring of 2010, support was at 46percent. Eight percent strongly supported the war in the new poll.
The poll found that far fewer people than last year think thekilling of Usama bin Laden by U.S. troops increased the threat ofterrorism against Americans. Overall, 27 percent say the Al Qaedaleader's death resulted in an increased terror threat, 31 percentbelieve his death decreased the threat of terrorism and 38 percentsay it has had no effect. The poll was conducted before therevelation this week of a recent Al Qaeda plot to blow up aU.S.-bound airliner with an underwear bomb.
Chris Solomon, an independent from Fuquay-Varina, N.C., is amongthe respondents who strongly oppose the war. He said the militarymission has reached the limits of its ability to help Afghans ormake Americans any safer, and he would close down the warimmediately if he could. While the rationale for the war is tofight Al Qaeda, most of the day-to-day combat is against anentrenched Taliban insurgency that will outlast the foreignfighters, he said. "What are we really doing there? Who are we helping?" he said in aninterview. Yet nearly half, 48 percent, said the continued presence of U.S.troops in Afghanistan is doing more to help Afghanistan become astable democracy, while 36 percent said the opposite and 14 percentsaid they didn't know.
Among those opposed to the war, 49 percentsay U.S. troops are hurting more than helping. Three-quarters ofthose who favor the war think they are doing more to help. Republicans are most apt to see U.S.
forces as helping, with 56percent saying so, followed by 47 percent of Democrats. Amongindependents, more say troops are hurting Afghanistan's efforts tobecome a stable democracy (43 percent) than helping (32 percent). President Barack Obama has promised to keep fighting forces inAfghanistan until the end of 2014, despite the declining popularsupport. The effort to hand off primary responsibility for fightingthe war to Afghan soldiers will be the main focus of a gathering ofNATO leaders that Obama will host later this month in Chicago.
That shift away from front-line combat is expected to come nextyear, largely in response to growing opposition to the war in theUnited States and among NATO allies fighting alongside about 88,000U.S. forces. The shift makes some military commanders uneasy, asdoes any suggestion that the U.S. fighting force be cut rapidlynext year. Obama has promised a steady drawdown.
Obama acknowledged the rising frustration during a surprise visitto Afghanistan last week. He signed a 10-year security pact withAfghan President Hamid Karzai and congratulated U.S. troops on theanniversary of bin Laden's death. He told troops that he is endingthe war but that more of their friends will die before it is over. "I recognize that many Americans are tired of war," he said then."I will not keep Americans in harm's way a single day longer thanis absolutely required for our national security.
But we mustfinish the job we started in Afghanistan and end this warresponsibly." As of Tuesday, at least 1,834 members of the U.S. military had diedin Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001,according to an Associated Press count. Obama has argued that his persistence in hunting down bin Laden isone reason to re-elect him, and his on-time handling of the wars inIraq and Afghanistan is another. Obama closed down the Iraq war on the timetable set when he tookoffice and expanded the Afghan fight that had been neglected infavor of Iraq.
He is now scaling back in Afghanistan, bringingtroops home by the tens of thousands. A small U.S. counterterrorismand training force may remain in the country after 2014. But in a trend that complicates discussion of the war in thisyear's presidential campaign, support for the war is plummetingeven among Republicans.
People who identified themselves asRepublicans backed the war at 37 percent, down from 58 percent ayear ago. Among Democrats, support dropped from 30 percent last year to 19percent now. About a quarter, 27 percent, of independents favor theeffort, similar to the level last year. The war, which will be in its 12th year on Election Day inNovember, has an inconclusive balance sheet at best.
It has brought greater security to many parts of the impoverishedcountry strategically situated between Iran and Pakistan, andlargely flushed the Al Qaeda terror network from its formertraining ground. But the war has failed to break the Taliban-led insurgency orpressure the insurgents to begin serious peace negotiations withthe U.S.-backed Afghan government. The civilian government has notcapitalized on the elbow room that more than 100,000 foreignfighting forces provided to build up its own ability to govern theentire country and push the Taliban to the political fringe. Obama was hosting NATO's top officer at the White House onWednesday to finalize the agenda for NATO leaders. They are tryingto show that NATO nations are committed to keep fighting now butwill stick to the plan agreed at the last leaders' summit in 2010to end the war by 2015.
But the summit will be a national securitydebut for France's new Socialist leader, Francois Hollande, who hasvowed to pull French troops out by the end of this year. That's twoyears earlier than the rest of the alliance has pledged. Slightly more than half of Americans, 53 percent, said they approveof Obama's handling of the war, while 42 percent disapprove. Obamahit a high mark in AP-GfK polling on that question a year ago, justafter the killing of bin Laden.
Then, 65 percent said they approvedof his handling of the situation in Afghanistan. The poll showed 64 percent approve of Obama's handling of terrorismissues, and 31 percent disapprove. Elizabeth Kabalka of Chattanooga, Tenn., said she somewhat approvesof the war and is generally pleased by Obama's handling of it. Anindependent voter, she said Obama is doing about as well managingthe war as anyone could.
"He's got a really crappy job," she said. "I've been pleased withhim. He's really tried to stick to a position." The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted May 3-7 by GfK RoperPublic Affairs & Corporate Communications. It involved landline andcellphone interviews with 1,004 adults nationwide and has a marginof sampling error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points. I am Gifts & Crafts writer, reports some information about pocket knife antique , personalized pocket knife.
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