Afghan war most unpopular in US history: Poll

More than 80 percent of Americans say they are opposed to the war in Afghanistan, making the longest war in US history also the most unpopular one, according to a new national poll.

The CNN/ORC International survey released Monday indicates that support for the war in Afghanistan among Americans has dipped to just 17 percent. In December 2008, 52 percent of those surveyed said they supported the war.

Opposition to the 12-year-long war now stands at 82 percent, up from 46 percent five years ago.

A majority of Americans would like to see US troops pull out of Afghanistan before the December 2014 withdrawal deadline, the poll said.

“Those numbers show the war in Afghanistan with far less support than other conflicts,” CNN Polling Director Keating Holland told CNN.

“Opposition to the Iraq war never got higher than 69 percent in CNN polling while US troops were in that country, and while the Vietnam War was in progress, no more than six in 10 ever told Gallup’s interviewers that war was a mistake,” he added.

Some 2,300 American troops have been killed in Afghanistan since the US and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.

The offensive removed the Taliban from power, but the country is still gripped by insecurity.

The US should withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan at the end of next year if Kabul does not sign a Bilateral Security Agreement with Washington which would keep up to 10,000 US soldiers in the country.

A new US intelligence assessment has warned of the likely resurgence of Taliban militants and quick loss of gains in Afghanistan by 2017, even if the US maintains some troop presence in the country.

The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which includes input from all 16 US intelligence agencies, predicted that the Taliban would become more influential as the US pulls its troops out of Afghanistan.