Nearly half of Americans term US military intervention in Afghanistan 'a failure'

The share of Americans terming the initial decision to intervene as right has declined over the years

Public opinion in the United States remains divided whether or not the initial decision to intervene in Afghanistan was the right call – 17 years following the American army intervention.

According to a Pew Research Center survey, about 49% of the Americans believe that the US has mostly failed in achieving its goals and objectives in Afghanistan, while 35% remain optimistic, and maintained that the military intervention was a success.

In a previous survey conducted in 2014 and 2015, opinions were similar to the recent survey. However between 2009 and 2011, survey results indicated a stark contrast, with the majority of the population  believing that the US would be successful in its military operations.



When comparing the opinions of the supporters of the two largest parties in American politics,  A recent trend indicates that the Republican party supporters remain more optimistic about the US military efforts in Afghanistan than the Democratic party supporters.

According to a new survey conducted between September 18-24, comprising of 1,754 adults. About 48% of the Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said that the US had succeeded in the military operation, in comparison to only 29% of the democrats and democrat leaning independents.

During Barack Obama’s presidency three years ago, opinions were in reverse with 42% of the democrats terming the US-led military in Afghanistan as successful, in comparison to only 29% of republicans who believed the military intervention to be a success.

Public opinion has become more divided with the passage of time, with 45% of the US population believing that the US made the right call in deciding to use military force in the war-torn country, while 39% maintained it was the wrong decision.



The share of Americans terming the initial decision to intervene as right, has declined over time. With the number rapidly decreasing from 83% in 2002, to 69% in 2006 who maintained that military intervention in Afghanistan was the right call.

Republicans have consistently maintained more support than Democrats for the decision to deploy military force in Afghanistan (as well as in Iraq), though support has fallen in both parties over the past decade.

This story originally appeared in the Pew Research Center