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Poll: 65% of Americans don't think Afghanistan was worth it

Afghanistan Bagram
Posted at 8:21 AM, Aug 23, 2021
and last updated 2021-08-23 08:21:46-04

WASHINGTON D.C. — Anew pollfrom the Associated Press and NORC says more than two-thirds of Americans don't think the war in Afghanistan was worth fighting.

AP Poll Afghanistan
AP Poll on Afghanistan 8/12-8/16

The poll says only 35% of Americans say the 20 years spent in the country was worth it. This poll was conducted between August 12 and 16, right around the time when the Taliban took over the capital city of Kabul.

In Depth Afghanistan
AEI Report findings on polling

This feeling Americans have is a major contrast from the national opinion back in 2001. An AEI report from 2011 found that most polls taken shortly after 9/11 showed 85% to 90% of Americans supported invading Afghanistan. Those numbers dropped between 2008 and 2010 but spiked up to around a 50% approval rating in 2011 after Osama Bin Laden was killed.

Right now, president Joe Biden's approval rating has dipped to the lowest level of his presidency so far, at just 54%. That's a nine-point drop from April and May's polling.