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Rasmussen Reports: Afghanistan and Obama By The Numbers

President Obama detailed his plan for winning – and ending – the war in Afghanistan in a long-awaited speech last night at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of U.S. voters have been following recent news about Afghanistan, including 51% who say they’ve been following the news Very Closely...

... Before the president’s speech, voters were essentially evenly divided over whether the United States could still win the war in Afghanistan and whether all the troops there should be brought home within a year. Forty-five percent (45%) favored bringing troops home immediately or within a year while 43% opposed such a timetable.

The number of those questioning America’s ability to win and of those supporting a troop withdrawal had been increasing steadily since September when the internal Obama administration debate over Afghanistan became public. That debate was prompted by a request from General Stanley McChrystal, the chief commander in Afghanistan, for a troop surge, but politically speaking, particularly in the president’s own party, an expansion of the war wasn’t a hugely popular idea.

Prior to the speech, Democrats were far more supportive of a troop withdrawal and less confident of winning in Afghanistan than were Republicans and voters not affiliated with either major party.

At the same time, overall voter confidence in America’s conduct of the War on Terror has now fallen to its lowest level since the first week of January in 2007...
Read entire article at Rasmussen Reports