Afghan War Poll Finds That Two-Thirds Say That It Wasn't Worth The Cost

[onehandle]

Source: Huffington Post

Nearly 12 years after U.S. troops invaded Afghanistan, two-thirds of Americans think that the war was not worth the cost, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll released Friday.

Twenty-eight percent think the war was worth it, and 43 percent say that it has contributed to the country's long-term security. The amount of those who think the war hasn't been worth it, 67 percent, is a new high for ABC polls, and slightly exceeds those who thought the Iraq war was not worth it in April 2007.

As U.S. involvement beyond 2014 remains in question, 53 percent favor keeping a residual force in the country while 43 percent would like to see U.S. forces leave altogether.

The poll comes as relations between Afghanistan and the United States are at a low, following the collapse of peace talks between the United States and the Taliban, and President Hamid Karzai's suspension of talks over a long-term security agreement after 2014, when coalition forces are scheduled to leave. President Barack Obama, frustrated with Karzai, reportedly is considering the idea of a so-called zero option of no troops beyond 2014. However, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Monday in Kabul that he had not been asked to prepare the scenario.

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/26/afghan-war-poll_n_3657879.html

[bemildred]

1. The public is not dumb when it has the facts.

That's why our news is "managed "like it is.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. I think folks had the facts

back then bemildred - but it was easier to "go shopping".

[bemildred]

4. I don't.

I think we go to a good deal of trouble to massage and obfuscate what is going on, keep it that way if we can too. We have a Senator right now promising to hide public business from the public for 50 years, like that was a good thing.

[JustAnotherGen]

2. It's nice to know

There are more of us out there. I never believed it was worth the cost. It was not the solution to A.Q. at all. Or terrorism in general.

I hope we go with a zero SOLDIERS option. One thing (it's a small wording thing) that I think has allowed this abomination to go on as long as it has is the average American's disassociation from the Human Cost of this war. They are human beings, soldiers - being killedby - and killing other Human Beings . . . in my name. It's not acceptable. Wasn't from day one. But 'troops' seems to keep it 'clean' and less real.

I hope now -now -Obama will get it done. He's delayed too long and point blank - the world can't afford this stupidity anymore.

[Lasher]

7. Zero soldiers and zero dollars after 2014.

That is my preference. But it's not going to happen. That's not how Obama rolls.

[heaven05]

5. hell

no! Afghanistan and Iraq were never worth the expenditure of LIVES and treasure. Any reasonable person knows this. OOOOPPPS! Who said our leaders were reasonable. Now on to Syria.

[bluedeathray]

6. And that's not even counting the dead... nt

[FiveGoodMen]

8. Two thirds is still too low

But it's a start

[iemitsu]

9. Wars are never worth the cost.

Not to the dead and maimed soldiers or their families, not to civilians, whose lives and property are destroyed, and not to the local or global economy.
Wars are only worth it for those, who don't fight and who have positioned themselves to profit off the misery and pain of others.
The wars we need to fight are right at home. We need to fight against a system that promotes inequality and injustice, we need to fight against poverty and ignorance, we need to fight against those, who would destroy our environment for short term profits, and we need to fight to have a voice in the democracy that promised our voices would not be silenced.
Fighting for one's privacy rights is worth it while fighting to enrich Dick Cheney is not.
Why would the government expect us to be supportive of their wild adventures? They never make our lives better.

[avaistheone1]

11. Iraq Wars and Afghanistan War were definitely not worth it

neither was the Vietnam War.

Our participation in World War II was justified. IMO every war we have participated since then - was senseless and produced more problems and deep losses for our country, for our character and for our strength as a nation.

[iemitsu]

13. Instinctively, I agree with you about WWII and also about the subsequent

"proxy wars" that followed, at least I felt that way for most of my life. But even our understanding of WWII has been subject to domestic propaganda and Psy-War.
The big problem with WWII is that we were fighting fascism, a philosophy our uber-classes embrace, along-side communism, the system considered the true enemy by our leadership. This became even more problematic when the Soviets won the war in Europe and looked poised to win in Japan.
Thank God for the Atomic Bomb. Right?
IMO, that was the moment the United States lost its moral authority and its direction both domestically and globally.
The bomb was a Faustian deal and we've worked for the devil ever since.

[obama2terms]

15. Yes!

I have always said the same thing.

[RobertEarl]

10. 10%er here

Was in the 10% camp in 2002. 11 years later, our numbers have grown.

Hippies were right, man. Right then, right now. We don't forget.

[avaistheone1]

12. Me too.

?bg=0xffffff

[iemitsu]

14. Peace is always a better option than war.

[melm00se]

16. People's opinions

are set by the situation they are in at the time of the poll and opinions about war are no different

Look at this poll.

April 1937 64% of those polled said that entrance into WWI was a mistake.
December 1940 less than 3 years later that number was almost cut in half.

[Comrade Grumpy]

17. It was worth it to somebody. A trillion dollars for war profiteers.

Mercenaries.

Defense contractors.

CIA bagmen (and the crooked recipients of their largesse).

We're scrapping $7 billion worth of MRAPs as we speak.

War is a racket. Like just about everything else in this country.

[modrepub]

18. Doesn't Matter What We Think

we'll all be paying for the Iraq/Afghanistan wars for a long, long, long, long time. As an example, I read that we are still paying out benefits for the American Civil War, which ended almost 150 years ago. Congrats everyone because in all likelihood your great grand children will still be paying for this fiasco well after it's over.

[Sunlei]

22. It's about 56 billion a year to care for our walking wounded for the rest of their lives.

Medical treatment, separate of course from all the loans to pay the war profiteers for things like 20 billion to air condition tents.

[Kath1]

19. Only two thirds?

That is scary in itself. Not worth it at all in my opinion.

[DCBob]

20. I am sure these same people overwhelmingly approved the initial invasion back in 2001.

So I assume they just disapprove of the lengthy occupation, not the initial invasion to take AQ and the Taliban out.

[Sunlei]

21. If Bush hadn't banned the face of death on the warzone and our returning dead and maimed people....

We wouldn't have had to wait for a new Admin. to end the wars.