While the nation remains divided on keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan, just a tiny 14 percent believe that the country won the war against al Qaeda there, and 33 percent believe it was a lost cause.
A new YouGov poll added that the rest “aren’t sure either way,” even after 2,224 lives were lost and $1 trillion spent there since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The newly post poll shows that the public is widely divided on several issues related to Afghanistan. For example, said YouGov:
“Despite the widespread perception that the U.S. is not departing Afghanistan victoriously, only 35 percent of Americans say that it was a mistake to send troops to fight in Afghanistan in the first place, while 37 percent say that it was not a mistake.”
And maybe worse for the nation-building effort, YouGov found that “only 20 percent of Americans say that the country will become a stable democracy, either in the next couple of years or further into the future; 59 percent say that the country will never be a stable democracy.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
