Most Americans Favor Quick Removal of U.S.Troops from Afghanistan

A recent public opinion poll suggests that Americans are increasingly pessimistic about developments in the Middle East.  This report released by Pew Research Center found that the majority of Americans (60%) believe that U.S. troops should leave Afghanistan as quickly as possible.  This number has significantly increased since May 2011, when only 48% of Americans supported quick troop pullout from Afghanistan.  According to the survey issued October 4-7, 2012, 73% of Democrats support quick troop pullout from Afghanistan.  The majority of Independents (58%) similarly support a quick troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.  However, Republicans remain divided, as 48% believe that U.S. troops should remain in Afghanistan until the country is stabilized. Overall, only 35% of Americans believe that U.S. troops should stay in Afghanistan until the country has stabilized.  The presidential candidates will likely respond to American’s growing pessimism about U.S. involvement in Afghanistan as they debate foreign policy tonight in the final presidential debate. 

Changing Opinions About Keeping Troops in Afghanistan

With recent news of Obama's plan to pull troops out of Afghanistan, many people have the war on their minds, and they expressed their opinions in this survey from the Pew Research Center. For the first time, the majority of American citizens would like to see troops pulled out of Afghanistan instead of being kept there until the situation is more stable. Support for taking troops out of Afghanistan has grown for every demographic group since this time last year. The majority of every group now believe that taking troops out is the best thing to do. The only exception is Republicans, with a slight majority (53%) believing that we should keep troops there until the situation stabilizes.

One reason for this sudden shift in thought might be due to the optimistic opinions that most hold about U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. Across the board, the majority of Americans believe that using military force was the right decision in this situation. Most also believe that the U.S. will achieve its goals, and that the military effort is going well. Despite these positive opinions about the U.S.'s military involvement, not as many people believe that Afghanistan will be able to maintain a stable government.

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