For the first time, a majority of Americans says that the War in Afghanistan is not worth fighting:
A majority of Americans now see the war in Afghanistan as not worth fighting and just a quarter say more U.S. troops should be sent to the country, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
Most have confidence in the ability of the United States to meet its primary goals — defeating the Taliban, facilitating effective economic development and molding an honest and effective Afghan government — but very few say Thursday’s elections there are likely to produce such a government.
When it comes to the baseline question, 42 percent of Americans say the U.S. is winning in Afghanistan; about as many, 36 percent, say it is losing the fight.
The new poll comes amid widespread speculation that the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, will request more troops for his stepped-up effort to root the Taliban from Afghan towns and villages. That is a position that 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 say to keep the level about the same.)
(…)
Among all adults, 51 percent now say the war is not worth fighting, up six points since last month and four points above the previous high, reached in February. Less than half, 47 percent, say the war is worth its costs. Those strongly opposed (41 percent) outweigh strong proponents (31 percent).
As is usually the case, it seems the American public has become wiser than it’s leadership for the reasons I noted last week:
Now that it’s clear that both the Taliban and al Qaeda have decamped into Pakistan and appear to be under the protection of at least some elements of the Pakistani military and/or intelligence bureaucracy, it would seem that dealing with a potential Islamist insurgency in the only Islamic nation with a nuclear weapon should be more important to America’s strategic interests than trying to introduce democracy to a nation that has never known it and which has resisted foreign “reform” attempts from three of history’s greatest powers.
Continuing fighting al Qaeda by all means, but let’s end the foolish idea of bringing Jeffersonian democracy to a country still living in the 12th century.
