Majority of US citizens say troops must leave Afghanistan: Poll




Apr 1, 2012

A new poll shows the Americans' support for the war in Afghanistan has fallen to an all-time low, with majority saying the US should withdraw from the country before the 2014 deadline, Press TV reports.

According to the CNN/ORC International survey released on Friday, only 25 percent of Americans favor the war in Afghanistan, a Press TV correspondent reported on Sunday.

Meanwhile, 55 percent of those surveyed said the US should remove all of its troops from the Asian country before the 2014 deadline set by Barack Obama's administration. Twenty-two percent expressed support for the 2014 timetable.

This is also the first time that a majority of Republicans, 56%, voiced opposition to the US prolonged presence in the country since the war began in 2001.

Pentagon Chief, Leon Panetta has recently responded to the low poll numbers saying "We cannot fight wars by polls."

"We have to operate based on what we believe is the best strategy to achieve the mission that we are embarked on. And the mission here is to safeguard our country by ensuring that the Taliban and al Qaeda never again find a safe haven in Afghanistan," Panetta added.

The costly war has forced the US government to engage the Afghan militants in dialogue in a bid to curb the violence in the war-ravaged country.

The Taliban have suspended the talks with the US after a recent massacre by a US soldier that killed at least 16 Afghan civilians, sparking intense outrage among the people of the country.

The poll, conducted among 1,014 American adults by telephone between March 24 and March 25 with a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.