US Support for Afghan War Plummets

American support for the war in Afghanistan has reached an all-time low, according to the latest New York Times/CBS poll. Some 69% of those polled believe the US shouldn't be fighting in Afghanistan, up from 53% just four months ago. Support has plunged among both Democrats and Republicans, with 68% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans saying the war is going somewhat or very badly, according to the poll, which is consistent with several other recent surveys.

NATO plans to hand over security to Afghan forces by the end of 2014. But 47% of those polled want the US to leave the country ahead of schedule, and only 17% believe the US should stay for as long as it takes to stabilize the country. A military expert at the Brookings Institution blames the poll numbers on a lack of awareness of the US policy of slowly turning parts of the country over to Afghan forces. "The overall image of this war is of US troops mired in quicksand and getting blown up, and arbitrarily waiting until 2014 to come home," he says. "Of course you’d be against it." (More Afghanistan stories.)