Fewer in U.S. View Iraq, Afghanistan Wars as Mistakes

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Gallup:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid a security situation in Iraq and Afghanistan that continues to be contentious, a smaller share of Americans now than last year view the conflict in Afghanistan or the Iraq war as a mistake. A slim majority, 51%, say the 2003 decision to send troops to Iraq was a mistake, down six percentage points from 2014. A little more than four in 10 (42%) say the 2001 military action in Afghanistan was a mistake, also a drop from last year’s 49% reading.

Trend: Perceptions That U.S. Made a Mistake in Sending Troops to Iraq and Afghanistan

Official military operations have ended in both Iraq and Afghanistan, but the U.S. is still heavily involved in those countries’ security affairs. Over the past year, U.S. military involvement in both countries could be characterized as on the rise, or at least not on the wane. This week, President Barack Obama announced the deployment of an additional 450 troops to Iraq to aid in the fight against the militant group Islamic State, bringing the total number of troops sent since June of last year to 3,550. Obama made good in 2011 on a campaign pledge to withdraw all American troops from Iraq, though he has since had to reverse course as the Islamic State group overran portions of the country.

In Afghanistan, a muscular Taliban insurgency has also complicated Obama’s efforts to withdraw troops from that country, a goalmost Americans shared when Gallup last asked about it in 2012. In March, Obama announced he would maintain U.S. troop levels, which stand at 9,800, until at least the end of 2015, a break from previous plans for a speedier withdrawal.

Still, these countries’ ongoing challenges have not led to a rising level of regret among the American populace for having entered Iraq or Afghanistan. Iraq remains the theater of operations Americans are more likely to see as a mistake, as has been the case since the U.S. began the military campaign in March 2003. Nonetheless, initial support for U.S. involvement was quite positive, but by the summer of 2004 a majority had decided that it was a mistake — a quicker souring on the military action than had occurred in the 1960s after the nation’s initial involvement in Vietnam.

The percentage saying involvement in Iraq was a mistake rose to as high as 63% in 2008, and has varied since then, but has stayed above 50%. These most recent findings rank as one of the most “positive” assessments of the Iraq war since September 2006, when the country was evenly divided on this question.

Trend: Looking back, do you think the United States made a mistake sending troops to fight in Iraq?

Far fewer Americans have historically considered the Afghanistan military action as a mistake; in fact, at no point has a majority expressed this viewpoint. But the level considering it a mistake has gradually grown as the engagement has worn on, peaking at 49% last year before dipping back down this year.

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Both would be seen as greater successes had Bush been followed by competent leadership as opposed to “hope and change”.

Sort of on topic…..

The ONLY thing I will say that would be “positive” about the sickening thought of Prez Hillary would be watching prog heads explode when the clintonistas start blaming the Obama administration for all the foreign policy failures that will inevitably result from Hillary’s stupid decisions..

@Pete: At least we can take comfort in knowing that thanks to the administration’s ineptness in dealing with cyber threats, the Chinese now have our security clearance files. I bet you, like me, thought when you were jokingly told that by the time they got done with your background investigation the government would know more about you than you do, you never thought so would the Chinese.