Poll shows sharp drop in Americans' support for Afghan war
Photo: From the Kandahar massacre (Sunday, 11 March 2012). Seventeen civilians were killed by American soldiers and five wounded in the Panjwai district of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Among the dead were four men, four women, two boys, and seven girls. Eleven of these victims were from the same family. Some of the corpses were partially burned.
A new opinion poll shows the Americans’ support for the war in Afghanistan has plunged sharply, hitting a record low after the recent massacre of at least 16 civilians by US soldiers in the Asian country.
The latest New York Times/CBS survey found that 69 percent of the respondents believe the United States should not be fighting in Afghanistan any more. The poll, conducted among 986 adults from March 21-25, shows a 16-point increase in dissatisfaction with the decade-plus-long war, compared with a similar survey four months ago. The figure was 53 percent back in November. The costly war has forced the US government to engage the Afghan militants in dialogue in a bid to curb the violence in the war-ravaged country. The Taliban have suspended the talks with the US over the massacre that has sparked intense outrage among the people of the Asian country. Meanwhile, at least three US-led foreign soldiers were killed in separate incidents in Afghanistan on Monday.