WaPo poll: 7 in 10 Democrats now say war in Afghanistan wasn’t worth fighting

posted at 8:20 pm on August 19, 2009 by Allahpundit
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Remember, this is supposed to be the “good war” they were all pretend-itching to fight once Obama undid George Bush’s terrible, terrible mistake in Iraq. It was just over a year ago, as I recall, that Harry Reid was talking up how well things were going to boost The One’s campaign promise to secure the country.

Now, the truth:

Overall, seven in 10 Democrats say the war has not been worth its costs, and fewer than one in five support an increase in troop levels. Nearly two-thirds of the most committed Democrats now feel “strongly” that the war was not worth fighting. Among moderate and conservative Democrats, a slim majority say the United States is losing in Afghanistan.

Republicans (70 percent say it is worth fighting) and conservatives (58 percent) remain the war’s strongest backers, and the issue provides a rare point of GOP support for Obama’s policies. A narrow majority of conservatives approve of Obama’s handling of the war (52 percent), as do more than four in 10 Republicans (43 percent).

Among all adults, 51 percent now say the war is not worth fighting, up six points since last month and four points above the previous high, reached in February. Less than half, 47 percent, say the war is worth its costs. Those strongly opposed (41 percent) outweigh strong proponents (31 percent)…

Among liberals, his rating on handling the war, which he calls one of “necessity,” has fallen swiftly, with strong approval cratering by 20 points. Nearly two-thirds of liberals stand against a troop increase, as do about six in 10 Democrats.

A dirty little secret that WaPo won’t tell you: When they asked this same question last July, a majority of Democrats said the war wasn’t worth fighting then, too. Bear that in mind when the spin starts tomorrow that these new numbers are a reaction to conditions deteriorating inside the country. The good news? Now that Bush is out of office and the White House is safely won, the left doesn’t give a wet crap whether Obama escalates in Afghanistan or not. For once, Cindy Sheehan is under no illusions:

The “anti-war” “left” was used by the Democratic Party. I like to call it the “anti-Republican War” movement.

While I agree with you about the hypocrisy of such sites as the DailyKos, I have known for a long time that the Democrats are equally responsible with the Republicans. That’s why I left the party in May 2007 and that’s why I ran for Congress against Nancy Pelosi in 2008.

Exit question: Any lefties care to enlighten us in the comments as to what the withdrawal “strategy” here is? No one believes the country is secure against the Taliban; no one believes either that the Taliban would deny sanctuary to Al Qaeda. If the war on terror is now a war on Al Qaeda specifically, why cede an entire country back to them to use as their base of operations by pulling out?

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