WASHINGTON: As millions of Afghans voted on Thursday for their next president, the majority of Americans said they believe the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting, according to a Washington Post-ABC Poll released this week.
Americans also, by nearly 2 to 1, are not confident the Afghan election will produce a government that can rule the country effectively. Just 34 percent say they think Afghanistan’s national election will result in an effective government, with just 3 percent “very confident.” While 47 percent endorsed the mission, over 51 percent of Americans said they did not — according to the poll. Just 42 percent, moreover, think the United States is winning the war in Afghanistan; 36 percent say it’s losing. The results of the survey could indicate problems for a war that President Barack Obama has defended as a top priority.
The new poll comes amid widespread speculation that Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, will request for more troops for his stepped-up effort to remove the Taleban from Afghan towns and villages. That position gets the backing of 24 percent of those polled, while nearly twice as many, 45 percent, want to decrease the number of military forces there. (Most of the remainder want to keep the level about the same.) In January, before President Obama authorized sending an additional 17,000 troops to the country, public sentiment tilted more strongly in support of a troop increase. To make matters worse for the Obama administration, this is the second poll this month that revealed unraveling public support for the war.
In a CNN-Opinion Research Corporation survey released earlier this month, 54 percent opposed the US-led fight, with only 41 percent in favor.
Public unease has been reflected in Congress, where some of Obama’s fellow Democrats have voiced worries about the open-ended US commitment.
In a speech before veterans on Monday, Obama defended the war as a necessity that was “fundamental” to the defense of the American people in depriving Al-Qaeda of a safe-haven to plot follow-on attacks to the strikes of Sept. 11, 2001. But he warned it would be a difficult fight and that there would be no “easy” victory. Overall, seven in 10 Democrats say the war has not been worth its costs, and fewer than one in five support an increase in troop levels. Partisan divisions on the handling of the Afghan war are tempered when it comes to faith in the ability of the United States and its allies to get the job done. Broad majorities across party lines say they are confident that the United States will defeat the Taleban and succeed in spurring economic development.
Republicans (70 percent say it is worth fighting) and conservatives (58 percent) remain the war’s strongest backers, and the issue provides a rare point of GOP support for Obama’s policies. A narrow majority of conservatives approve of the president’s handling of the war (52 percent), as do more than four in 10 Republicans (43 percent). Despite signs of public anxiety, a majority of 60 percent approve of how Obama has handled the war, while 33 percent disapproved, the Washington Post poll said.
But souring public views on the war serve as a clear reminder of the risks it carries for the president – just as the war in Iraq severely damaged his predecessor as it grew in unpopularity. The polls will be good news to the Taleban, who have made clear their intentions to wait out the American and coalition forces in Afghanistan.
