Ahead of Karzai’s Visit, a Division on the War
EmailHamid Karzai’s visit to Washington this week may not bring out adoring throngs: The war in Afghanistan remains problematic in U.S. public opinion, with just more than half of Americans saying it’s not been worth fighting.
At 52 percent, that criticism of the war has grown by 8 points since December, when its support rebounded in a positive response to President Obama’s announced surge-then-withdraw plan. Views of the war are back almost exactly to where they were before the president’s Dec. 1 address.
Forty-five percent say the war has been worth fighting, including 26 percent who feel that way “strongly,” its lowest strong support in polling back more than a year. There’s greater intensity among opponents; 38 percent feel strongly that the war in Afghanistan has not been worth it.
For all that, Obama’s own handling of the war is one of his best individual issues, with 56 percent approval, his highest on the issue since August. That’s because his approach on Afghanistan gets an unusual level of approval from Republicans, 42 percent. Compare that to his approval among Republicans more generally, for handling his job overall – just 12 percent.
Republicans, similarly, are far more apt to say the war’s been worth fighting – 69 percent express that view, compared with 41 percent of independents and 32 percent of Democrats.
Democrats, for their part, appear cross-pressured by their disapproval of the war on one hand and their inclination to support Obama on the other. Just 34 percent give him “strong” approval for handling Afghanistan, far below his strong approval among Democrats for his job performance overall, 59 percent.
There are other differences among groups. Young adults are most critical of the war; 60 percent say it has not been worth fighting. That view also peaks among non-whites (65 percent, 17 points higher than among whites), and, at 66 percent, among people who voted for Obama in 2008 – marking the potential hazard the war poses for the president in his political base.
Our data on Karzai, while less recent, also underscore the challenges in mustering sustained U.S. public support for the war. In an ABC/Post poll in November just 26 percent regarded Karzai’s government as a “reliable partner for the United States in Afghanistan and only 38 percent expressed confidence it’ll be able to train an effective Afghan army to take over security there – the linchpin of Obama’s plan for withdrawal.
Karzai, as it happens, asks in a Washington Post op-ed today for more support for training the Afghan Army and police. He’s scheduled to visit Obama in the White House on Wednesday.
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Posted by: Huh | May 9, 2010, 3:18 pm 3:18 pm
There are 25 MILLION Afghans and only – at max – 25,000 active Taliban. That is 0.1% of the population. If the 99.9% of the population is unable or unwilling to rise up and fight to regain their country, then the USA can accomplish NOTHING in this 14th century corrupt and feudal kleptocracy.
Posted by: AlChemist | May 9, 2010, 3:21 pm 3:21 pm
The mission of invading Afghanistan to evict the Taliban and the Al Qaeda was accomplished 7 years ago. For the past 7 years it has been just propping up the Karzai regime. Just like the Soviets did after they invaded Afghanistan and propped up Najibullah. Unfortunately even though I think war is a waste, the alternative of leaving Afghanistan for Karzai to meet the same fate at the hands of the Taliban that Najibullah found himself in, America may need to stay in Afghanistan for a very long time to consolidate the minimal gains that have been made.
Posted by: GJKOTW01 | May 9, 2010, 3:49 pm 3:49 pm
Had GWB focused on Afghanistan when he had full support from NATO allies, spent 1/10th what was spent on Iraq to improve Afghan lives insteaqd of making new enemies by invading Iraq, the US would be out of Afghanistan with a better image in the Muslim world and 5000 more US citizens.
Posted by: treblig56 | May 9, 2010, 4:03 pm 4:03 pm
“The mission of invading Afghanistan to evict the Taliban and the Al Qaeda was accomplished 7 years ago. ”
Exactly, and now that Obama is in charge, people are getting fed up. The lay down liberals always believed it was a police action. Now the conservatives see Obam isn’t really committed anyway.
Posted by: jonny | May 9, 2010, 4:16 pm 4:16 pm
So the News Media and the Liberals get exactly what they’ve been working for all these years – hundreds more dead American soldiers, thousands more dead Afghanis, and more Schoolgirls’ with acid thrown in their faces.
Posted by: John Kantor | May 9, 2010, 4:20 pm 4:20 pm
Bush messed up Afghanistan so badly to get into Iraq that it cannot be fixed.
Posted by: We Lose | May 9, 2010, 4:33 pm 4:33 pm
Before 9/11, during 9/11, and long after 9/11 the only terrorist organization with such a global reach and large scale attacks operated(s) from the Taliban controlled territory.
The war on terror previously involved using the best fighting force in the world to guard Halliburton conveys while paying to keep a nuclear wielding dictator in place whose only political suppport came from the fundamental hard-liners that protect Al Qeada.
Posted by: Thomas Fletcher | May 9, 2010, 6:02 pm 6:02 pm
We have had more problems then ever since Obama has been in office, More here in the USA then over in foreign countries. So what is the solution? I thought Mr.Obama was gonna what’s that word? oh yeah CHANGE!!! LOL
Posted by: Lois | May 9, 2010, 6:43 pm 6:43 pm
Afganistan is a nation of drug growers and smugglers and so has it always been.
Posted by: billy | May 9, 2010, 7:07 pm 7:07 pm
You can’t bring a nation of people mired in the 13th century into the 21st century without a generational effort. Time to build up CIA presence and pull out the troops. Then be smart enough not to criticize the CIA for being mean when they have to be.
Posted by: cardiodude | May 9, 2010, 7:15 pm 7:15 pm
Don’t worry, lemmings. The MSM won’t go after your boy like they did with the last Administration, even if the number of dead Americans is DOUBLE that of Iraq.
Posted by: Is_It_November___Yet | May 9, 2010, 7:27 pm 7:27 pm
I think interest in the war is waning while Americans are still dying for a worthy cause. Pakistan is the problem here, like Cambodia was during Vietnam. Unless the war is taken into Pakistan it can’t be won. Afghani’s love our money but no one wants a war in their country. So unleash hell on the Afghan-Pakistani border for a year and blow up every turban in sight. Either fight to win or get out. At least Obama knew where troop strength was needed. Now Gen. McCrystal has his troops and needs to lay waste to the Taliban, especially the Pakis’.
Posted by: Obama-vs.-Bush | May 9, 2010, 7:53 pm 7:53 pm
Well, here come our second Viet-Nam. not lost on the Battlefield, but rather lost on Capitol Hill when the Dems are in control (again). America, the “paper tiger”.
Posted by: Gunz2fun | May 9, 2010, 8:04 pm 8:04 pm
It’s currently politically incorrect, but it’s time to think about a future policy of retaliating by wiping out a couple cities in nations causing us problems. We could give notice that our targets would be among a listed group of cities so that smart citizens could escape with their lives. And then we should conventionally bomb a couple of them into rubble.
It’s economically not feasible to continue this immense drain on our resources to try to “democratize” these countries while allowing corrupt regimes to run things. In Iraq we’ve created a Shiite partner for Iran and in Afghanistan we’ve done very little to help the people in the long run.
It’s time to get out and let the rulers there know we’ll do it the cheap way next time.
Posted by: The_Mick | May 9, 2010, 8:06 pm 8:06 pm
It stinks being in Afghanistan for almost a decade now – so much wasted time, lives and resources. But Obama is finally doing the job the right way. We can’t afford to walk away. Obama guided by Petraeus will finally get this job done.
Posted by: hopesprings52 | May 9, 2010, 8:09 pm 8:09 pm
if we pull out of afgahnsitan, bin ladi will claim ultimate victory over us. He’ll laugh at the u.s. on al-jazeera.
Posted by: sergio | May 9, 2010, 8:21 pm 8:21 pm
“…with just more than half of Americans saying it’s not been worth fighting.”
Yeah, Gary and by what criteria was that poll conducted? A lot of it depends on who and even where you ask. Polls are about as useful as biased marketing, unless they are really substantiated. In fairness to scientific methodologies, if you don’t have the data, you have a high risk of coming across as a blow hard. Where’s the data? Where do you stand on the war? You’re very opinion might unsubstantiate you as credibly unbiased.
Posted by: Gort | May 9, 2010, 8:44 pm 8:44 pm
If the people of Afghanistan prefer the Taliban, we could be there a thousand years and not get what we want.
The problem is that the democrats don’t want to give the republicans a weapon to use on them, such as withdrawing, if Obama withdrew the GOP would denounce him as being weak on terror, if he stays the GOP denounces him for continuing a worthless fight.
Either way, he will get criticism, that’s the way of America today, all criticism and NO answers,.
Posted by: JR | May 9, 2010, 9:10 pm 9:10 pm
We must fight fire with fire. What that means in terms of Al Qaeda is that we should never have started a war in Afghanistan and certainly not in Iraq. In spite of what Sarah Palin (the great poobah of all military action) says, the WTC bombing and the Pentagon bombing were the work of a criminal cartel that should have been pursued accordingly. We have special forces that are trained to do just that. Use them and provide all that they need to pursue our enemies.
Posted by: John Locke | May 9, 2010, 9:32 pm 9:32 pm
It would have been very nice if the Bush Administration would have listened to all this wonderful wisdom and taken the lead to deal with the problem effectively back when the action in Afghanistan got started instead of listening to conservative majority and offering an American knee-jerk reaction of gun boat diplomacy.
Posted by: albert russell | May 9, 2010, 9:56 pm 9:56 pm
We went into Afghanistan to “democratize” the country. Then Babrak Karzai steals the latest election with fraudulent balloting and we continue to support him really makes “Democracy” great doesn’t it.
Posted by: steve gashman | May 9, 2010, 11:28 pm 11:28 pm
The whole bloody war has only been worth it for the rich elite and corporations like Haliburton. People just do not take the fact to heart that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11 and that we were already poised to go in before 9/11. We are carving up the Middle East for oil and political hegemonic agendas that do not benefit anyone including the brave men and women fighting and spilling their blood!! All we have done is stir up the hornets nest and not prevent anything from coming across the southern border of the U.S. — and the American people have become poor and subject to the banksters that were bailed out who produce nothing while our jobs and farmers have been left to rot!! But opium production is going well over there — so there must be some benefits for someone!
Posted by: W. Wallace | May 10, 2010, 1:35 am 1:35 am
No, it hasn’t been. And thanks for avoiding mention of the whole Iraq mess.
Posted by: Timothy | May 10, 2010, 4:44 am 4:44 am
No, it hasn’t been. And neither has the Iraq mess.
Posted by: Timothy | May 10, 2010, 4:45 am 4:45 am