Afghan buildup: Public, officials divided
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As President Obama nears a decision about the deployment of new U.S. military forces in Afghanistan, the American public appears sharply divided.
Just 42% support an increase in U.S. troops -- 35% at the level that the American commander in Afghanistan has recommended, 7% at some smaller level -- the Gallup Poll reports today. An additional 44% would like to see a reduction in U.S. forces.
‘If Obama decides to increase U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, he will be going against the wishes of the vast majority of rank-and-file Democrats,’ Gallup’s Jeffrey Jones notes.
The majority of Republicans side with Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s recommendation of 40,000 additional troops, with an additional 6% supporting a smaller increase.
Independents are evenly divided between favoring an increase of any size (36% support McChrystal’s recommended increase and 7% favor a smaller increase) and a reduction (43%). The poll was run Nov. 5-8.
[Updated at 8:15 a.m.: Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,008 adults nationwide. According to Gallup, for results based on the total sample of adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.]
The Washington Bureau’s Paul Richter reports that half the American public isn’t the only party wary about a troop buildup in Afghanistan:
In an unexpected dissent at a critical moment, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan has warned in classified cables against any further buildup of American forces in the country, senior U.S. officials said Wednesday. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, a retired Army general and former commander of U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan, objected in two cables delivered to the State Department saying that additional troops would be unwise because of the corruption and ineffectiveness of the Afghan government.The advice in the cables, sent last week, comes as most signs are suggesting that President Obama soon will announce plans to send thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan in hopes of turning the tide against militants.’
-- Mark Silva