International public opinion on the war in Afghanistan

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In October 2001, polls indicated that about 88% of Americans and about 65% of Britons backed military action in Afghanistan.On the other hand, a large-scale 37-nation poll of world opinion carried out by Gallup International in late September 2001, found that large majorities in most countries favoured a legal response, in the form of extradition and trial, over a military response to 9/11: Only in just 3 countries out of the 37 surveyed - the United States, Israel, and India - did majorities favour military action in Afghanistan. In 34 out of the 37 countries surveyed, the survey found many clear and sizeable majorities that did not favour military action: in the United Kingdom (75%), France (67%), Switzerland (87%), Czech Republic (64%), Lithuania (83%), Panama (80%), Mexico (94%), etc. However, the Taliban refused to to extradite bin Laden or his followers to the U.S.

This dichotomy between American and international public opinion on the military operations in Afghanistan continues to be seen. Within the Anglo-American news media, the war in Afghanistan has colloquially been referred to as "the good war" because it is not as overwhelmingly opposed as the the war in Iraq, and the term has been used by the BBC, The Economist, The Washington Post CNN, The New York Times, and The Times.

A Gallup poll in July 2008 showed that 68% of Americans think that the U.S. did not make a mistake in sending military forces to Afghanistan. This figure is down from 72% in 2004 and 93% in January 2002. The poll also showed that 59% of Americans support sending additional troops to Afghanistan, while 38% do not, and that 57% support moving troops from Iraq to Afghanistan, while 36% do not. The number of Americans who think that the U.S. made a mistake in sending military forces to Afghanistan has climbed from 6% in January 2002 to 25% in 2004 to 28% in July 2008. According to the poll, 51% Americans think that things are going badly for the U.S. in Afghanistan, up from 46% in 2006, while 46% believe things are going well, down from 49% in 2006. There is a significant partisan difference in those polled: Although less than half of either group say the Afghanistan intervention was a mistake, 41% of Democrats call the war a mistake while only 9% of Republicans do.

However, an Ipsos/McClatchy online poll in September 2008 found that a majority 66% of Americans are opposed to sending additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, while only 34% support an increase. The majority 74% of Americans favor gradually withdrawing troops from both Afghanistan and Iraq, and bringing them home.

Outside the United States, on the other hand, international public opinion has been largely opposed to the war in Afghanistan. In a 47-nation June 2007 survey of global public opinion, the Pew Global Attitudes Project found considerable opposition to U.S. and NATO operations in Afghanistan. Only in just 4 out of the 47 countries surveyed was there a majority that favoured keeping military troops in Afghanistan: the U.S. (50%), Israel (59%), Ghana (50%), and Kenya (60%). In 41 of the 47 countries, pluralities want U.S. and NATO military troops out of Afghanistan as soon as possible. In 32 out of 47 countries, clear majorities want U.S. and NATO military troops out of Afghanistan as soon as possible. Majorities in 7 out of 12 NATO member countries say troops should be withdrawn as soon as possible.

A smaller 24-nation Pew Global Attitudes survey in June 2008 similarly found that majorities or pluralities in 21 of 24 countries want the U.S. and NATO to remove their troops from Afghanistan as soon as possible. Only in 3 out of the 24 countries - the U.S. (50%), Australia (60%), and Britain (48%) - did public opinion lean more toward keeping troops there until the situation has stabilized. Since that poll, views in Britain and Australia have also diverged from public opinion in the United States, and clear majorities in both Britain and Australia now want their troops to be brought back home from the war in Afghanistan.