Pew Poll Deflates the Post’s Overblown Headline
Will Keola Thomas – Afghanistan Study Group
Just one day after The Washington Post tripped over its own poll numbers and fell face-first into some sloppy conclusions (see the article: “Support for Afghan war rises, poll shows”), the Pew Research Center released polling data that seemed to rub the Post’s nose in the mess it had made.
The Post’s headline ignores the fact that a majority of Americans continue to believe that the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting. It also buries the real story told by its poll: 73% of Americans think the U.S. should withdraw combat forces from Afghanistan this summer.
The Pew Research Center’s poll adds an additional storyline:
“Far more Americans say that the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has contributed a great deal to the nation’s debt than say that about increased domestic spending or the tax cuts enacted over the past decade.
Six-in-ten (60%) say the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has contributed a great deal to the size of the debt.”
The survey also asked respondents about their support for reducing overseas military commitments as a deficit cutting measure. 67% of all respondents (including 56% of Republicans and 71% of Independents) would support the proposal.
The Washington Post claims that its poll figures provide President Obama with “more political breathing room.” The Pew poll shows that public support for the decade-long war in Afghanistan has run out of air.
