Afghanistan veterans more likely than average voter to support Afghanistan withdrawal, poll finds
With President Biden's much-criticized Afghanistan withdrawal largely in the rearview, a new poll from Morning Consult found that veterans of America's longest war were more likely than the average voter to say they were in support of Biden's departure decision.
Nearly 3 in 5 — 58 percent — of Afghanistan veterans backed the decision, including 42 percent who did so strongly. On the other hand, 52 percent of all voters expressed a degree of support for the withdrawal, while just 27 percent of that group did so strongly, per Morning Consult.
Afghanistan veterans were also far more likely than the rest of voters to see the 20-year war as a success — 48 percent of veterans said they believed such, while just 27 percent of all voters agreed.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Notably, former President Donald Trump received the highest marks when veterans were asked which wartime leader handled foreign policy in Afghanistan the best: Trump, Biden, former President Barack Obama, or former President George W. Bush.
63 percent backed Trump's Afghanistan dealings — which, of course, "set the stage for this year's withdrawal," wrote Morning Consult — and 54 percent said the same of Bush and Obama. But just 49 percent saw Biden's Afghanistan foreign policy with some degree of approval.
Morning Consult surveyed 243 Afghanistan veterans and 7,988 registered voters across multiple polls between Aug. 17 and Sept. 2, 2021. Results per polling group have a margin of error of 6 percentage points and one percentage point, respectively. See more results at Morning Consult.
-
A running list of US interventions in Latin America and the Caribbean after World War IIin depth Nicolás Maduro isn’t the first regional leader to be toppled directly or indirectly by the US
-
How to rekindle a reading habitThe Week Recommends Fall in love with reading again, or start a brand new relationship with it
-
Political cartoons for January 8Cartoons Thursday’s political cartoons include a well-done steak, a silenced protester, and more
-
Trump pulls US from key climate pact, other bodiesSpeed Read The White House removed dozens of organizations from US participation
-
The billionaires’ wealth tax: a catastrophe for California?Talking Point Peter Thiel and Larry Page preparing to change state residency
-
What is the Donroe Doctrine?The Explainer Donald Trump has taken a 19th century US foreign policy and turbocharged it
-
A running list of the US government figures Donald Trump has pardonedin depth Clearing the slate for his favorite elected officials
-
‘Space is one of the few areas of bipartisan agreement in Washington’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Trump fears impeachment if GOP loses midtermsSpeed Read ‘You got to win the midterms,’ the president said
-
Nicolás Maduro: from bus driver to Venezuela’s presidentIn the Spotlight Shock capture by US special forces comes after Maduro’s 12-year rule proved that ‘underestimating him was a mistake’
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
