Only one in three Americans support troop increase in Afghanistan

New York, Sep. 25 (ANI): Despite General Stanley McChrystal advocating a troop increase in Afghanistan, only twenty-nine percent Americans support his suggestion, a new poll has found.

According to a new CBS News/New York Times poll, 29 percent think that troop levels should be increased, while 32 percent said they should be decreased. Another 27 percent say troop levels should be kept at the level they are now.

Recently, a leaked memo had quoted General McChrystal, the top US military commander in Afghanistan, as saying that an increase is necessary for the US to avoid failure there.

His position may have generated some effect on how Americans view the Afghanistan war.

In August, a higher percentage - 41 percent - wanted troop levels decreased, and slightly fewer (25 percent) backed a troop increase.

President Obama, who has already ordered the deployment of 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan by the end of the year, is reportedly reassessing his Afghanistan strategy.

The poll found that Americans are divided on whether the US is doing the right thing by fighting the war in Afghanistan.

Forty-seven percent, including 67 percent of Republicans, said yes, forty-two percent, including more than half of Democrats, said no, while Independents were nearly evenly divided.

More than half of those surveyed (53 percent) said things were going badly for the United States in Afghanistan, while just 35 percent said they were going well.

Most Americans did not believe that American military action in Afghanistan had made them safer: Just 27 percent said US efforts have decreased the threat of terrorism, the poll found.

While seventeen percent believe American efforts have instead increased the terrorism threat, a majority - 51 percent - say the threat has stayed the same.

However, most Americans continue to see the Iraq war positively.

Fifty-seven percent say the war is going well for the United States, while 38 percent say it is going badly. (ANI)