Amid growing criticism of the unplanned withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, a poll shows a majority of Americans believe the US war in Afghanistan has not been worthwhile.
The latest poll by the Associated Press and the NORC Public Affairs Research Center shows that a significant majority of Americans doubt that the war in Afghanistan was worthwhile.
According to the Associated Press, the results of a new study show that two-thirds of those polled said they thought the longest US war in the region, or the war in Afghanistan, was not worth fighting.
According to the report, despite a wave of criticism of US President Joe Biden’s policy of leaving Afghanistan, 47% of Americans endorsed Biden’s management of international affairs and 52% endorsed his national security.
The Associated Press / NROC poll was conducted August 12-16 (August 21-25) at the end of two decades of US war in Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban to power.
Despite growing criticism, Biden recently defended his policy of withdrawing US troops from Afghanistan for the umpteenth time, saying that he will not allow the war in Afghanistan to continue indefinitely and stipulate that the people of his country agree with him.
The results of the poll also show that the Iraq war, which coincided with the war in Afghanistan, was a mistake.
However, Republicans from President Donald Trump’s party, unlike Democrats, believe the US war in Iraq and Afghanistan was worthwhile, and four out of 10 Republicans believe that the US war in any two countries have done the right thing.
According to the report, almost 20 years after the 9/11 attacks that led to the war in Afghanistan, more Americans believe that the main threats to national security are in fact internal.
According to the report, the Associated Press / NROC poll was conducted between August 12 and 16 with 1,729 American adults and a positive and negative margin of 3.2 percent.
The poll came as many critics blamed Biden’s unplanned withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan and the lack of support for the Afghan military for the current situation in Afghanistan.
However, in an interview with ABC News on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden emphasized that even if the Trump administration had not reached a peace agreement with the Taliban in Doha in February 2020, it would have withdrawn US troops.
The Taliban group entered Kabul on Sunday (August 15th) after the departure of Ashraf Ghani, the former president of Afghanistan. Analysts see the arrival of Taliban forces as the end of a 20-year effort by the United States and other Western nations to rebuild Afghanistan in a way that suits the West.
Following the February 2020 agreement between the United States and the Taliban and the signing of a “peace agreement” between the two sides, the withdrawal of US troops and allies from Afghanistan began. However, in recent weeks, the war in Afghanistan has intensified and the Taliban have succeeded in gaining power in Afghanistan.
The United States and other NATO members invaded Afghanistan in 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks on the United States, and have continued their military presence and occupation in Afghanistan ever since.