Poll: Most Americans Think US Failed in Afghanistan

TEHRAN (defapress)- Almost half of Americans think the United States has failed to achieve its goals in Afghanistan after some 17 years into a war that was supposed to end the rule of Taliban and resolve the issue of terrorism in the South Asian country, a new poll showed.

News ID: 72907

Date: 06 October 2018 - 14:43

The survey released by Pew Research Center showed that 49 percent of American adults said Washington had mostly failed in fulfilling its objective while 35 percent said it had succeeded, press tv reported.

Another 16 percent noted they couldn’t say whether the US has succeeded or failed in the years-long war.

The survey shows little difference compared to its previous iterations in 2014 and 2015, when opinions about the US military mission were similarly more negative than positive among Americans.

It was a different story between 2009 and 2011, however, as most people were optimistic when asked whether the US would be successful.

Among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, around 48 percent of the participants in the survey said they thought the US has succeeded, compared to 28 percent among Democrats and Democratic leaning independents.

Pew’s poll from three years ago under then-President Barack Obama showed similar numbers but in the opposite order, as 42 percent of Democrats said the US had succeeded while only 29 percent of Republicans held the same view.

The US president announced that he would send more troops to the country’s longest war, which he once described as a “complete waste.”

The new poll also found that while still most Americans (49 percent versus 35 percent) think the US made the right decision to invade Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001 attacks, the number had steeply declined over the years.

In 2006, for example, 69 percent of Americans thought former President George W. Bush had made the right call by attacking Afghanistan versus 20 percent who opposed the decision.

Earlier this year, US President Donald Trump unveiled a new strategy for Afghanistan that would prolong the military intervention in the country.

Since Trump took office in January last year, the number of US-led foreign troops has nearly doubled in Afghanistan – from 8,500 in early 2017 to around 15,000 this year.

Today, besides Taliban, the ISIL terror group has also gained foothold in Afghanistan.

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