UPI, June 9, 2011

Majority in U.S. say leave Afghanistan

While 52 percent favor leaving Afghanistan, 35 percent said the United States should stay

The ‘Stop The War’ protest, a demonstration march against the ongoing war in Afghanistan was held on October 24th 2009. (Photo: http://www.shepy.co.uk/blog/2009/10/stop-the-war-protest/)

Just over half of U.S. adults favor pulling out of Afghanistan while one-third think U.S. troops should remain, a poll released Thursday indicated.

The Harris poll for BBC World News America found 51 percent do not believe U.S. policies in Afghanistan are likely to succeed while 14 percent say they will. More than one-third, 36 percent, said the government of President Hamid Karzai is unfriendly to the United States, with only 19 percent saying the Afghan government is a friend and ally.

While 52 percent favor leaving Afghanistan, 35 percent said the United States should stay. The poll found little change in U.S. attitudes towards Afghanistan since the killing of Osama bin Laden.

About two-thirds, 66 percent, of those surveyed said killing bin Laden was preferable to taking him prisoner with 20 percent disagreeing. By an even larger margin, 66 percent to 18 percent, those polled said the United States has the right to go into a country without notifying the government to pursue someone who has killed Americans.

Harris Interactive surveyed 2,027 U.S. adults online between May 31 and June 2. Harris does not supply margins of error.

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