When the United States went to war there in 2001, the American public agreed almost unanimously with President George W. Bush’s decision. That November, still shaken by the attacks of Sept. 11, nine in 10 Americans said they thought sending troops into Afghanistan was the right thing to do, according to a Gallup poll. Over the past 20 years, the public’s views on the United States’ presence in Afghanistan have shifted, but they haven’t totally flipped. That differs significantly from the country’s feelings about the war in Iraq: By 2007, 62 percent of Americans said sending troops there had been a mistake, according to Gallup. Similarly, by the time American troops headed home from Vietnam in the mid-1970s, six in 10 Americans were telling Gallup pollsters that the war there hadn’t been worthwhile.

Source: New York Times April 15, 2021 22:41 UTC