A brand new BBC/Harris poll indicates that only 1/3 of Americans are in favor of President Obama’s plan to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
As I wrote last week, when popular support for the war was at 50%:
I’m pretty certain that support is soft, too. Americans haven’t really had to think about whether the continued war in Afghanistan is making America safer or worth its cost in blood and treasure since 2001. If they are forced to think about it again, I think many people will revise their opinions.
It appears a large majority of Americans have already made up their mind that 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan is not the right way to move forward.
President Obama is going to have to tread very carefully here. His administration already admitted there isn’t much of a strategy for the new troops, and he’s starting to prepare the country for increased casualties. Lack of public support for an escalating war is a big reason why LBJ’s grand domestic plans were scuttled. If Obama expects to bring about the large change he and this country seek – economic recovery, health care reform, green energy, and the like – getting us deeper into the “graveyard of empires” with only 1/3 of the country behind him is not a smart strategy.
As ZP Heller said, let’s rethink the escalation in Afghanistan before it’s too late.
