WashPost/ABC Poll: 54% Want Troops Out of Afghanistan

Support for the Afghan war is waning: 54 percent of Americans want U.S. troops out of Afghanistan before the Afghan army is self-sufficient, and 55 percent believe Afghans oppose the U.S. mission, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll shows.

For the first time, the poll found that Republicans are evenly split on the war. Overall, 60 percent of Americans believe the war has not been worth the cost.

The poll of 1,003 randomly chosen people was conducted Wednesday through Saturday, before Sunday’s attack in Kandahar province, where an American soldier is accused of killing 16 civilians but after the recent riots sparked by U.S. troops’ inadvertent burning of Qurans by U.S. troops.

It found that 43 percent said U.S. troops should remain in Afghanistan, while 3 percent had no opinion.

But 60 percent said the war had not been worth fighting, while only 35 percent said it had.

The figures also show that Americans believe that the Afghans generally do not support the American effort in their country. Of those asked, 55 percent said most Afghans oppose U.S. involvement, while 30 percent say they believe most support the U.S. effort.

That compares with 54 percent who said Iraqis generally support what the Americans have done in their country, while 39 percent said Iraqis are generally opposed.