The results of a new national poll states that the Afghanistan war is still unpopular with most Americans. However, US President Barack Obama’s decision to send more American troops to the country is supported by the public.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey was released on Wednesday morning. It indicated that 59% of respondents agreed with Obama and his plans of sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan. 39% opposed the idea.
“Most of those who oppose Obama’s plan would like to see the U.S. immediately withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan”, said Keating Holland, CNN’s polling director.
Majority of the public, however, is against the mission of the United States in Afghanistan, with 55% opposing it and 43% supporting it.
“Three in 10 say that they opposed the war from the start and another quarter report that they favoured the war when it began in 2001 but oppose it now”, said Holland.
As for gaining ground in Afghanistan, only 18% believe that the US will come out victorious while two-thirds believe that neither the US nor Afghanistan is winning.
“That may explain the support for Obama’s plan, since a victory is likely to require more troops”, Holland added. “But it may also explain the overall opposition to the war, since Americans tend to dislike losing”.
On the other hand,
the results of the poll conducted last month show that 52% of Americans oppose the war while 45% support the war in Afghanistan.
