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."
27% Want Immediate Withdrawal of U.S. Troops From Afghanistan
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Twenty-seven percent (27%) of voters believe all U.S. troops should be brought home from Afghanistan immediately, a finding that has remained largely unchanged since last November .
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 16% more think a firm timetable should be established for bringing the troops home within a year. Forty-six percent (46%) oppose a firm timetable of any kind.
All these findings reflect slightly more pessimism among voters than was found a year ago .
Just 18% of voters now say the situation in Afghanistan will improve over the next six months, the lowest level of confidence since last October. Forty-eight percent (48%) say the situation in Iraq will get worse.
Only 39% now think it is at least somewhat likely that all combat troops will be removed from Afghanistan by the end of President Obama's first term in office, while 53% say that's unlikely to occur. This includes 13% who say it's Very Likely and 12% who believe it's Not At All Likely.
Despite the president's view that Afghanistan is the primary front in the war on terror and his shifting of troops to that region, members of his own party continue to be the most insistent that troops be withdrawn. Sixty-five percent (65%) of Republicans and a plurality (45%) of voters not affiliated with either party oppose the establishment of any kind of timetable for withdrawal.
Among Democrats, 34% want troops withdrawn immediately, and 25% want a firm timetable for withdrawal within a year. Only 28% of Democratic voters oppose the creation of a timetable.
The survey of 1,000 Likely U.S. Voters was conducted on September 12-13, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC . See methodology .
One thing most voters continue to agree on is that the United States doesn't need to send more troops to Afghanistan. Only 24% favor sending additional troops into that war. Fifty-six percent (56%) are opposed, but another 20% are not sure.
Sixty-nine percent (69%) of Democrats and 56% of unaffiliated voters oppose sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Republicans are narrowly divided on the question.
Most Americans remain willing to defend just five other countries in the world if they are attacked, and Afghanistan is not one of them.
In fact, 41% of Americans view Afghanistan as an enemy of the United States , while just 19% regard it as an ally. Thirty-five percent (35%) think of Afghanistan as somewhere between an ally and an enemy.
Interestingly, 62% of the Political Class thinks it is at least somewhat likely that all combat troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of Obama's first term. Fifty-six percent (56%) of Mainstream voters don't share that optimistic assessment.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of all voters say they have been following recent news stories about Afghanistan at least somewhat closely. Twenty percent (20%) are not following news about the war closely, if at all.
In June, 47% of voters agreed with the president's decision to fire America's top commander in Afghanistan for insubordination.
Forty-seven percent (47%) now believe the United States is safer today than it was before the attacks of September 11, 2001. That's the highest level of confidence in the nation's safety since last August, but 54% felt that way just after President Obama took office in January 2009.
Still, 71% of Americans think it's at least somewhat likely that another 9/11 is likely with the next decade . President Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan to go after the Muslim terrorists who masterminded the 9/11 attacks.
Thirty-nine percent (39%) of voters expect America's relationship with Muslims worldwide to be worse one year from now, a level reached only twice before - after failed Islamic terrorist attempts - and the most pessimistic assessment in 15 months of surveying on the question.