More than half of America against the war in Afghanistan for first time

By Mail Foreign Service

August 20, 2009

More than half of America is against the war in Afghanistan for the first time, a poll has revealed.

Fifty-one per cent of those polled now say the war is not worth fighting, an increase of five percentage points in five months.

At the same time, the number of those in favor of the U.S. presence in the region has slumped to a meager 32 per cent.

Fifty-one per cent of those polled now say the war is not worth fighting, an increase of five percentage points in five months

Ominously for President Barack Obama, the same percentage opposed the Iraq conflict in 2004 at the start of George Bush’s disastrous slide in popularity.

The new ABC-TV/Washington Post poll comes as U.S. military chiefs are expected to ask Mr Obama to send more troops to Afghanistan.

But the poll shows that by a near two-to-one majority, Americans want just the opposite. Forty-five per cent want to pull troops out while only 24 per cent are in favor of increasing the force.

In January, before President Obama authorized sending an additional 17,000 troops to the country, U.S. public opinion strongly backed the move. And two years ago 56 per cent were in favor of the war, with 41 per cent against it.

Approval for Mr Obama’s handling of the Afghan conflict has dropped fastest - by nearly 20 percentage points - among left-of-centre Democrats who usually support him.

Only 34 per cent thought yesterday’s general election in Afghanistan would produce an effective government, with a meager three per cent being 'very confident.’