Declining American support for Afghanistan war

The following public opinion poll results on American attitudes toward the Afghanistan war are included in a much longer chapter on the Wikipedia internet encyclopedia website at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/international-public-opinion-on-the-war-in-Afghanistan#2010.

The results on American attitudes, reported below, indicate that support for the Afghanistan war is declining. If this downward trend continues, perhaps President Obama may summon the courage to buck his chief military advisers and generals and bring American troops in robust numbers home beginning next summer. That's what Americans want.


July 2010 United States: The majority 58% of Americans want their troops withdrawn from the nine-year U.S. war in Afghanistan within the next one or two years. Only a minority 35% of Americans are willing to have U.S. troops stay longer than two years from now. One third, 33%, of Americans think large numbers of U.S. troops should be withdrawn in less than a year, another 23% think that should be done within one or two years, and 2% want an immediate withdrawal. The majority 54% of Americans want a timetable to be set for withdrawal from Afghanistan, while 41% do not. Only 26% of Americans think U.S. troops should remain for as long as it takes. The majority 62% of Americans think the war is going badly for the United States, up from 49% in May, while 31% still believe it is going well. The CBS News poll was conducted July 9–12, 2010.[15][16]

July 2010 United States: Support for the war in Afghanistan hit a new low again in the United States. The three-quarters majority of Americans, 76%, want to start withdrawing troops by next summer or sooner: 45% call Obama's plan to start withdrawing troops by next summer "about right", and an additional 31% call for the withdrawal to start even sooner. Only 18% think the withdrawal should start later. The majority 53% of Americans think the war in Afghanistan has not been worth fighting, with the plurality 38% of Americans "strongly" feeling so. Only 43% of Americans think the war in Afghanistan has been worth fighting, down sharply since the end of the previous year, and the lowest since the question was asked in February 2007. The plurality 44% of Americans think the war has not contributed to their country's long-term security, 28% thought had "somewhat", and 25% thought it had to a "great deal". The ABC News / Washington Post poll was conducted July 7–11, 2010.[16][17]