These poll numbers were released earlier today by Rasmussen Reports -- "an electronic publishing firm specializing in the collection, publication, and distribution of public opinion polling information."
33% Expect U.S. Troops To Be Out of Afghanistan By 2013
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
President Obama on Monday declared U.S. military action in Afghanistan as a "war of necessity," and just 33% of voters believe it is even somewhat likely that U.S. combat troops will be removed from that country by the end of the president's first term. Only eight percent (8%) say it is very likely.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey - taken prior to the president's speech - finds that 57% think it is unlikely that Obama will pull all combat troops out of Afghanistan by the beginning of 2013: 41% say it's not very likely, and 16% say it's not at all likely.
Most Democrats (54%) say the president is likely to have the troops out of Afghanistan by the end of his first term, but just 25% of Republicans and 17% of voters not affiliated with either party agree.
Forty-one percent (41%) of voters nationwide rate the president's handling of Afghanistan, where the United States has been at war since 2001, as good or excellent. Twenty-four percent (24%) say he is doing a poor job.
Again, a partisan difference of opinion is evident. While 63% of Democrats assess the president's performance as good or excellent, just 21% of GOP voters and 34% of unaffiliateds share that view.
A sizable majority of voters (84%) say it's likely the president will send even more troops to Afghanistan in the next year or so, including 56% who say it is very likely. These numbers are little changed from mid-June . In late March , 74% said it was likely Obama would need to send additional troops to Afghanistan, but most voters were supportive of that decision.
Forty-nine percent (49%) continue to agree with Obama's assessment, first made during last year's presidential campaign, that Afghanistan is the central front in the war on terror. That number is up seven points from June and marks a noticeable increase from last July when Obama first made the pronouncement. Twenty-one percent (21%) disagree with that view, and 30% are not sure.
Men believe in the centrality of the war in Afghanistan far more than women. Republicans feel that way slightly more strongly than Democrats, while unaffiliated voters are more closely divided.
However, only 22% of voters expect the situation there to get better in the next six months .
Forty-one percent (41%) of voters view Obama's job performance in the overall area of national security as good or excellent , the lowest finding since he took office in January. Thirty-five percent (35%) say the president is doing a poor job on national security.
Still, 48% of voters say the United States and its allies are winning the War on Terror , while just 21% think the terrorists are winning.
Eighty-one percent (81%) of voters say they are following news stories about Afghanistan at least somewhat closely, with 37% following very closely. Three percent (3%) are not following news about the war in Afghanistan at all.
Forty percent (40%) of adults say Afghanistan is a U.S. enemy, but then most Americans believe the United States has more enemies than friends in the Middle East . Only 15% see Afghanistan as an ally, and 39% say it's somewhere in between the two.
Just 21% of voters say the U.S. relationship with the Muslim world will be better a year from now, down five points from late June.
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To view the original report, please use this link: Weren't They Already Supposed to Be Home?