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By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Support for the war in Afghanistan hasreached a new low, with only 27 percent of Americans saying theyback the effort and about half of those who oppose the war sayingthe continued presence of American troops in Afghanistan is doingmore 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 percent favored the war, and in the spring of 2010, support wasat 46 percent. Eight percent strongly supported the war in the newpoll. The poll found that far fewer people than last year think thekilling of Osama bin Laden by U.S. troops increased the threat ofterrorism against Americans. Overall, 27 percent say the al-Qaidaleader'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-Qaida plot to blow up aU.S.-bound airliner with an underwear bomb. [ Read: Afghan Government Slams Taliban Spring Offensive. ] 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-Qaida, 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?" hesaid in an interview. 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," hesaid then. "I will not keep Americans in harm's way a singleday longer than is absolutely required for our national security.But we must finish the job we started in Afghanistan and end thiswar responsibly." 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. We are high quality suppliers, our products such as E-Light Beauty Machine Manufacturer , IPL Beauty Machine for oversee buyer. To know more, please visits IPL Hair Removal Equipment.
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