Growing American Opposition To The War
While support for the war continues to be strongest in the U.S. and Israel, recent polls have also shown growing opposition in the U.S., including majority opposition.
A Washington Post – ABC poll conducted July 15–18, 2009 found that just half of Americans, 51%, think the war is worth fighting, while nearly half, 45%, think the war is not worth fighting – a statistical tie within the poll's ±3 point margin of error. The American public is also closely divided on whether the United States is making significant progress toward winning the war, with 46% thinking so and 42% not.
An Associated Press – GfK poll conducted July 16–20, 2009 found that the majority 53% of Americans oppose the war, while 44% support it. It furthermore found that the plurality of Americans, 34%, strongly opposed the war, while 20% strongly favored it. (Another 19% somewhat opposed the war, 20% somewhat favored it, and 3% did not know or declined to answer.)
A CNN – Opinion Research poll conducted July 31 – August 3, 2009 also found that most Americans now oppose the war. In a new low in American public support for the war, 54% of Americans said they opposed the war, while 41% supported it.
Following the August 20, 2009 election in Afghanistan that was characterized by widespread lack of security and massive fraud, and capping off the two deadliest months for U.S. troops in the 8-year war, the CNN-Opinion Research poll conducted August 28–31, 2009 registered the highest level of opposition to the war the poll has yet seen. A majority 57% of Americans now oppose the war in Afghanistan, while 42% still support it.
A Washington Post – ABC News poll conducted September 10–12, 2009 reported that:
Americans are broadly skeptical of President Obama's contention that the war is necessary for the war against terrorism to be a success, and few see an increase in troops as the right thing to do.The poll found that the plurality 42% of Americans now want a reduction of the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and that 26% of Americans think more troops should be sent to Afghanistan.
The CNN – Opinion Research poll conducted September 11–13, 2009, found that American opposition to the war reached a new all-time high, while American support for the war fell to a new all-time low. The majority 58% of Americans now oppose the war, while 39% support it.
Keating Holland, CNN's polling director, observed that:
The Afghan war is almost as unpopular as the Iraq war has been for the past four years.He noted that support for the war in Iraq had first dropped to 39 percent in June 2005 then generally remained in the low to mid-30s since.
The Associated Press – GfK poll conducted October 1–5, 2009 found the majority 57% of Americans oppose the war, up 4% from July, while 40% favor the war, down 4% from July.
The CNN / Opinion Research poll conducted October 30 – November 1, 2009 found that the majority 58% of Americans oppose the war, while 40% support it. The majority 56% of Americans also oppose sending any more U.S. troops, while 42% favor doing so.
The Pew Research poll conducted October 28 – November 8, 2009 found that the majority 59% of Americans oppose sending any more U.S. troops: The plurality 40% of Americans want the number of U.S. troops to be reduced, and 19% want the number of troops to remain unchanged. 32% support sending any more U.S. troops.
The Gallup poll conducted November 5–8, 2009 found that the majority 51% of Americans oppose sending any more U.S. troops: The plurality 44% of Americans want the number of U.S. troops to be reduced, and 7% want the number to be kept unchanged.
The Associated Press – GfK poll conducted November 5–9, 2009 again found that the majority 57% of Americans oppose the war, while 39% favor it.
The ABC News / Washington Post poll conducted November 12–15, 2009 found that the majority 52% of Americans now say the war is not worth fighting, a new high in opposition for the poll question first asked in 2007, and that 44% say it is worth fighting, a new low in support. The majority 76% of Americans do not feel that withdrawing would increase the risk of terrorism in the U.S. while 23% feel that it would.
The CNN / Opinion Research poll conducted December 16–20, 2009 found that the majority 55% of Americans oppose the war, while 43% support it.
The AP/GfK poll conducted January 12–17, 2010 found that the majority 54% of Americans oppose the war, while 43% support it. The plurality of Americans, 32%, "strongly oppose" the war, while 18% "strongly favor" it. The majority 55% of Americans oppose sending any more U.S. troops, while 41% would support doing so. The plurality 34% of Americans "strongly oppose" sending any more troops, while 17% "strongly favor" doing so.
The ABC News / Washington Post poll conducted April 22–25, 2010 showed that the majority 52% of Americans think the war has not been worth fighting, and the plurality 38% of Americans "strongly" think that it has not been worth fighting. 45% of Americans think that the war being carried out has been worth fighting, with 26% of Americans that feel that way strongly.
The CNN / Opinion Research poll conducted May 21–23, 2010 found that the majority 56% of Americans oppose their country's war, while 42% support it.
The ABC News / Washington Post poll conducted June 3–6, 2010 showed that the majority 53% of Americans think the war has not been worth fighting, and the plurality 41% of Americans "strongly" think that it has not been worth fighting. 44% of Americans think that the war being carried out has been worth fighting, with 26% of Americans that feel that way strongly.
The ABC News / Washington Post poll conducted July 7–11, 2010 found that 76% of Americans want to start withdrawing troops by next summer or sooner: 45% call Obama's plan to start withdrawing troops by next summer "about right", and an additional 31% call for the withdrawal to start even sooner. 18% think the withdrawal should start later. The majority 53% of Americans think the war has not been worth fighting, with the plurality 38% of Americans "strongly" feeling so. The poll reported that support for the war hit a new low in the United States: 43% of Americans think the war has been worth fighting, down sharply since the end of the previous year, and the lowest since the question was asked in February 2007.
The CBS News poll conducted July 9–12, 2010 found that the majority 58% of Americans want their troops withdrawn from the war within the next one or two years, and 35% were willing to have U.S. troops stay longer than two years from now. One-third, 33%, of Americans think large numbers of U.S. troops should be withdrawn in less than a year, another 23% think that should be done within one or two years, and 2% want an immediate withdrawal. 26% of Americans think U.S. troops should remain for as long as it takes, 7% think they should stay another two to five years, and 2% think they should stay for another five to ten years.
The CNN / Opinion Research poll conducted August 6–10, 2010 showed the American public's opposition to the war at an all-time high. The majority 62% of Americans oppose the war, the highest level since the poll question was asked in 2006, while 37% favored the war, an all-time low.
The CNN / Opinion Research poll conducted December 17–19, 2010 again showed the American public's opposition to the war reaching a new all-time high. The majority 63% of Americans oppose the war, the highest level reached since the poll question was asked in 2006, while 35% favored the war, again a new all-time low.
Opposition by the American public to the war also reached an all-time high in polling by ABC News and the Washington Post in December 2010. A record 60% majority of Americans say the war has not been worth fighting, while 34% say it has, a new record low of support of the war. The unpopularity of the war has now reached the levels seen for the war in Iraq. 81% of Americans want the withdrawal of American military forces to begin within a few months – either in the summer of 2011 as pledged by President Obama, or even sooner than that.
In January 2011, the USA Today / Gallup poll of January 14–16 reported that the majority 72% of Americans want the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan to be accelerated – including majorities in the three political groups – while 25% disagree. Of note, the plurality of Americans, 41%, "strongly" favor speeding up the withdrawal, while 6% "strongly" oppose doing so.
In March 2011, the Washington Post / ABC News poll of March 10–13 reported that the majority 64% of Americans say that the war is no longer worth fighting – the highest level of American opposition to the war measured by the poll – while 31% thought it was – the lowest level of support to date. Nearly three-quarters of Americans, 73%, want President Obama to withdraw a "substanstial number" of troops this summer – while 21% do not. Nearly half of Americans, the plurality 49%, "strongly" think the war is not worth fighting, while 17% strongly think it is.
Following the killing of Osama bin Laden, the USA Today / Gallup poll of May 5–8, 2011, reported that the majority 59% of Americans think the U.S. has finished its work and its troops should be brought home. 36% disagreed, and not a single major demographic group had a majority that favored keeping U.S. military forces in Afghanistan.
The Associated Press – GfK poll conducted May 5–9, 2011 reported that the majority 59% of Americans oppose the war, with the plurality 32% of Americans "strongly" opposed to it. 37% of Americans favored the war, the lowest level of support to date. The majority 80% of Americans approve of President Barack Obama's decision to end all U.S. combat operations by 2014 and to begin the withdrawal of troops in July, with the plurality 52% "strongly" approving the ending of combat operations. 15% disapproved, with 8% "strongly" disapproving. The majority 83% of Americans think the announced pace of withdrawal is either about right or too slow, while 15% think it is too fast.
The CBS News / New York Times poll of June 24–28, 2011 reported that the majority 58% of Americans oppose the U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan – the highest level of opposition yet recorded by the poll – while 35% thought the U.S. was doing the "right thing" in fighting its war. 79% of Americans approve of the announced withdrawal of all U.S. troops by the end of 2014, with 59% of Americans wanting even more than one-third of all U.S. troops withdrawn within the next year, by the end of summer 2012. Altogether, 85% of Americans – including the 75% of Republicans – want at least one-third of U.S. troops withdrawn within the next year, by the end of summer 2012.
In January 2013, the Media and Public Opinion Research Group reported that most Americans want the U.S. to pull out of Afghanistan: 37% think the U.S. should withdraw troops gradually, while 30.2% say the U.S. should withdraw immediately.
The Pew Research Center poll released at the 10th anniversary of the U.S. invasion reported that the majority 52% of Americans think that, considering the costs versus the benefits to the United States, the war has not been worth fighting, while 41% think it has.
| Date | Favor | Oppose | Unsure |
| Jun. 3–7, 2011 | 36% | 62% | 2% |
| May 2, 2011 | 42% | 52% | 5% |
| Jan. 21–23, 2011 | 40% | 58% | 1% |
| Dec. 17–19, 2010 | 35% | 63% | 5% |
| Oct. 5–7, 2010 | 37% | 58% | 5% |
| Sep. 21–23, 2010 | 39% | 58% | 3% |
| Sep. 1–2, 2010 | 41% | 57% | 2% |
| Aug. 6–10, 2010 | 37% | 62% | 1% |
| May 21–23, 2010 | 42% | 56% | 2% |
| Mar. 19–21, 2010 | 48% | 49% | 3% |
| Jan. 22–24, 2010 | 47% | 52% | 1% |
| Dec. 16–20, 2009 | 43% | 55% | 3% |
| Dec. 2–3, 2009 | 46% | 51% | 2% |
| Nov. 13–15, 2009 | 45% | 52% | 3% |
| Oct. 30 – Nov. 1, 2009 | 40% | 58% | 2% |
| Oct. 16–18, 2009 | 41% | 57% | 2% |
| Sep. 11–13, 2009 | 39% | 58% | 3% |
| Aug. 28–31, 2009 | 42% | 57% | 2% |
| Jul. 31 – Aug. 3, 2009 | 41% | 54% | 5% |
| May 14–17, 2009 | 50% | 48% | 3% |
| Apr. 3–5, 2009 | 53% | 46% | 1% |
| Feb. 18–19, 2009 | 47% | 51% | 2% |
| Dec. 1–2, 2008 | 52% | 46% | 2% |
| Jul. 27–29, 2008 | 46% | 52% | 2% |
| Jan. 19–21, 2007 | 44% | 52% | 4% |
| Sep. 22–24, 2006 | 50% | 48% | 2% |
(Pluralities over the ±3 margin of error indicated in bold. Lowest levels indicated in italics. Source: CNN/Opinion Research Corporation)
| Date | Favor | Oppose | Don't know / Refused |
| May 5–9, 2011 | 37% | 59% | 3% |
| Sep. 8–13, 2010 | 37% | 62% | 3% |
| Aug. 11–16, 2010 | 38% | 58% | 3% |
| Mar. 3–8, 2010 | 46% | 50% | 3% |
| Jan. 12–17, 2010 | 43% | 54% | 3% |
| Dec. 10–14, 2009 | 39% | 57% | 4% |
| Nov. 5–9, 2009 | 39% | 57% | 4% |
| Oct. 1–5, 2009 | 40% | 57% | 3% |
| Jul. 16–20, 2009 | 44% | 53% | 4% |
(Pluralities over the ±3% margin of error indicated in bold. Lowest levels indicated in italics. Source: AP/GfK)
| Date | Right thing | Should not be involved | Unsure |
| September 28 – October 2, 2011 | 34% | 57% | 9% |
| June 24–28, 2011 | 35% | 58% | 7% |
| June 3–7, 2011 | 43% | 51% | 6% |
| March 18–21, 2011 | 39% | 53% | 8% |
| February 11–14, 2011 | 37% | 54% | 9% |
| September 10–14, 2010 | 38% | 54% | 8% |
| August 20–24, 2010 | 43% | 48% | 9% |
| December 4–8, 2009 | 49% | 39% | 11% |
| October 5–8, 2009 | 51% | 39% | 10% |
| September 19–23, 2009 | 47% | 42% | 11% |
(Pluralities over the ±3% margin of error indicated in bold. Lowest levels indicated in italics. Source: CBS News)
Read more about this topic: International Public Opinion On The War In Afghanistan
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