A new Associated Press-GfK poll says …
Nearly 6 in 10 oppose war in Afghanistan
| Citizens of an empire might go to war too easily but they can’t stay at war forever. They get tired of “taking care of the world" and finally figure "others need to learn to take care of themselves, and war isn't the way to teach them." This 2010 article is from the AP, Aug 20. |
by Glen Johnson
A majority of Americans see no end in sight in Afghanistan, and nearly six in 10 oppose the nine-year-old war as President Barack Obama sends tens of thousands more troops to the fight, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll.With just over 10 weeks before nationwide elections that could define the remainder of Obama's first term, only 38% say they support his expanded war effort in Afghanistan -- a drop from 46% in March. Just 19% expect the situation to improve during the next year, while 29% think it will get worse. Some 49% think it will remain the same.
The numbers could be ominous for the president and his Democratic Party, already feeling the heat for high unemployment, a slow economic recovery, and a $1.3 trillion federal deficit. Strong dissent – 58% oppose the war -- could depress Democratic turnout when the party desperately needs to energize its supporters for midterm congressional elections.
A majority of Americans do welcome Obama's decision to end combat operations in Iraq. Some 68% approve, a number unchanged from earlier this year. The last American combat brigade began leaving Iraq on Thursday, ahead of Obama's Aug. 31 deadline for ending the US combat role there.
Seven years after that conflict began, 65% oppose the war in Iraq and just 31% favor it.
US troops have suffered more than 1,100 deaths in Afghanistan since fighting began in October 2001, including a monthly record of 66 in July. Last fall, Obama authorized an increase in the force in Afghanistan by 30,000 to 100,000 troops -- triple the level from 2008. Many in Congress are increasingly doubtful that the military effort can succeed without a tough campaign against bribery and graft that have eroded the Afghan people's trust in their government.
Opinions in the poll -- and among those interviewed -- were more positive about Iraq as Obama's deadline for the exit of US combat forces approached.
Obama ran for president in part on a pledge to pull out of Iraq and divert US resources to Afghanistan, and that shift has been accompanied by a changing death toll in each country.
The war views expressed by poll participants were echoed across the country.
Erika Hickert, 68, a retired school teacher in Maricopa AZ, said she is an independent who voted for Obama in 2008 and would do so again if given the chance. She felt the same about the wars. "I'm just tired of taking care of the world," Hickert said. "They need to learn to take care of themselves, and war isn't the way to teach them."
Terry Landers, 53, an electrician in North Andover KS, was among those with split opinions about Afghanistan in particular. A registered Republican who voted for McCain, Landers said he did not favor pulling out of Afghanistan despite his concern about the mounting death toll and his opposition to a long-term combat role. "I think we need to get the government stabilized before we get out of there. I don't know how we can do that, though."
Another poll respondent, Jeff Foust, 60, a retired public defender in Springfield IL, a Democrat who voted for Obama in 2008 and said he would again, added, "We've been there long enough in both places that winning is up to the people that live there."
The AP-GfK Poll was conducted August 11-16 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cell phone interviews with 1,007 adults nationwide, and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points.
JJS: When Americans talk about waging war in foreign places, several questions comes to my mind (not the media’s):
Did a majority of the people living there invite us to kill some of their fellow countrymen?
From whom does the so-called enemy get their weapons and money? Is it oil money from American drivers?
Those who do want US troops in their land, are they big absentee landowners? Or are they exploiting their people in other ways?
Would we wage the war for the profit of a few Washington insiders or at no material gain for all Americans?
Would we wage a war if we had to pay taxes for it in real time and not borrow from the Chinese or leave the bill to our children?
I bet if Americans could hear the answers to these questions, they’d choose to wage war much less often -- especially if the money saved could be used to erase the debt, or cut taxes, or pay a dividend, or since wars cost so much even all three!
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Editor Jeffery J. Smith runs the Forum on Geonomics.
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Also see: US outspends everyone on arms, funding enemies, too
Get real about language, but get real about people, too
Major daily US paper pushes cutting war spending |
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