The survey released Tuesday by the San Francisco-based Asia Foundation found that 83 percent of Afghan adults back negotiations with armed, anti-government groups, up from 71 percent last year. But it also said 55 percent of Afghans had no sympathy at all for the insurgency this year, up from 36 percent last year. Twenty-six percent of respondents said they had “a little sympathy” for the aims of the insurgency.
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Analysts said the survey reflected growing doubt that the government and its NATO allies can defeat the insurgency with military means and that after 30 years of war, some Afghans were willing to sacrifice some freedoms for the sake of peace.
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