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."
52% Want Troops Home from Afghanistan Within a Year
Monday, March 7, 2011
A majority of voters, for the first time, support an immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops from Afghanistan or the creation of a timetable to bring them all home within a year.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 31% of Likely U.S. Voters now say all troops should be brought home from Afghanistan immediately, while another 21% say a firm timetable should be established to bring all troops home within a year's time. The combined total of 52% who want the troops home within a year is a nine-point jump from 43% last September . Just 37% felt that way in September 2009 .
Only 34% of voters now think there should be no timetable for withdrawal. Fifteen percent (15%) are not sure. (To see survey question wording, click here .)
Republicans have traditionally been more supportive than Democrats of continuing the mission in Afghanistan, but now 37% of GOP voters favor bringing home the troops within a year, compared to 24% six months ago. Seventy-three percent (73%) of voters in President Obama's party favor that timetable, a view shared by 45% of voters not affiliated with either of the major political parties.
Twenty-seven percent (27%) of all voters think the U.S. mission in Afghanistan will eventually be judged a success. Thirty-one percent (31%) predict that it will be regarded as a failure, but that's down 11 points from 42% in early December . A substantial 41% now are not sure.
But 50% still believe, looking back, that the United States should have gotten involved in Afghanistan. Thirty-four percent (34%) now say America should not have become involved in what has become the nation's longest-running war. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided. These results are the mirror image of public perceptions about the war in Iraq .
The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters nationwide was conducted on March 4-5, 2011 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 .
President George W. Bush ordered the initial attacks on Afghanistan in October 2001 because the country provided safe haven for the al-Qaeda terrorists behind the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan today to begin assessing how many of the 100,000 U.S. troops to withdraw by July as planned. Full withdrawal is not expected until 2014.
Male voters feel more strongly than female voters that the United States should have gotten involved in Afghanistan. Women are also more likely to be undecided whether America's mission there will be seen as a success or a failure.
Whites are nearly twice as likely as African-Americans to believe America was right to get involved in Afghanistan.
A plurality (43%) of Republicans feels the mission in Afghanistan will be judged a success, but just 20% of Democrats and 18% of unaffiliated voters agree
Two-out-of-three GOP voters (67%) and most unaffiliateds (51%) still feel America should have gotten involved in Afghanistan. Nearly half (49%) of Democrats don't share that view.
Fifty-three percent (53%) of Mainstream voters support an immediate troop withdrawal from Afghanistan or the establishment of a firm timetable for a full pullout within a year. A plurality (45%) of the Political Class opposes such a timetable. At the same time, 50% of Political Class voters think it was a bad idea for the United States to ever become involved in Afghanistan, while 53% of those in the Mainstream support the decision.
Seventy-eight percent (78%) of all voters say they have closely followed recent news reports about the war in Afghanistan, with 38% who are following Very Closely.
Even though the president insists that troop withdrawals will begin in July as scheduled, voter confidence in the course of the war in Afghanistan remains low . Only 21% say the situation there will get better in the next six months. Thirty-four percent (34%) feel the war in Afghanistan will get worse over the coming six months, although that's the lowest level of pessimism since May of last year. Thirty-one percent (31%) expect things to stay the same.
Voter confidence in the outcome of the war fell to a new low in early December , with only 34% saying they now believe it is possible for the United States to win. That was down 13 points from 47% in February.
Still, an overwhelming majority (85%) of voters continue to rate the performance of the U.S. military as good or excellent .
However, 80% of voters now think terrorism is a bigger threat to the country than traditional wars .