Poll Shows Rising Public Opposition to Afghan War
Americans Generally Disapprove of Obama's Handling of the Afghan War. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal Survey (PDF) shows a public growing increasingly pessimistic about the Obama Administration’s handling of a number of issues, including a major rise in opposition to the Afghan War. Confidence is now plummeting, with 68% saying they feel “less confidence” about whether the war will reach a successful conclusion. Perhaps even more importantly, for the first time yet, the poll shows, the American public generally disapproves of the president’s handling of the Afghan War. The 44%-45% opposition was a stark drop in popularity of the war from five months ago, when they generally approved 53%-35%. This was even worse when the question was how President Obama had lived up to expectations on the war, with only 34% saying he had, and 57% saying that he had “fallen short” of what they were hoping for. Bill Van Auken: Opposition to Afghanistan war mounts as US intensifies offensive.