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Most Britons want troop pullout from Afghanistan

Britons

A majority of Britons say UK forces should be withdrawn from the controversial US-led war in Afghanistan, according to a new survey.

The poll released on Remembrance Sunday showed that 63 percent said British troops should leave the war-torn country as soon as possible.

Some 64 percent agreed that “the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable”, up six percent from July, while only 27 percent disagreed.

Chief executive of pollsters ComRes Andrew Hawkins said there was the sense that for British Prime Minister Gordon Brown Afghanistan was becoming what Iraq became for his predecessor Tony Blair.

“More than four in 10 don’t understand Britain’s mission; support for the British presence there is ebbing away,” said Hawkins.

ComRes surveyed 1,009 adults of different ages and social classes across Britain for BBC’s “The Politics Show”.

Last month, another poll by YouGov showed that some 62 percent of Britons wanted a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan within a year.

The eight-year-old war in Afghanistan has been very costly for Washington and its allies in Europe. A total of 229 British personnel have so far died in operations there.

Despite the presence of over 100,000 US and NATO troops, escalated militancy has made the current year the deadliest yet for foreign forces, as well as for Afghan civilians, who are the main victims of the conflict.

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