US can’t decide on increasing troops support to Afghanistan

October 21st, 2009 - 7:06 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

obama on phone Washington DC, Oct 21 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Noble Peace Prize winner for 2009 and the US President Barack Obama is still in thought over whether he should sent more troops to Afghanistan or not. The Americans are also divided over the issue, on whether he ought to send 40,000 more troops or not. The public approval of the president’s handling of the situation has tumbled, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the leading U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is looking forward to a substantial increase in troop strength by around 40,000 more. In the opinion poll, 47 percent of those polled favor the increase in troops, while 49 percent totally oppose it. Most on both sides hold their views “strongly.” The survey also found that a large majority of Americans say the administration doesn’t have the clarity and a concrete plan to deal with the problems in Afghanistan.

There is more on the platter for Obama because some people are strongly in favor of re-aligning the mission in Afghanistan to a targeted focus just on anti-US elements. This could in turn, turn the tide for Obama and also erase the question of additional troops for Afghanistan. It is a big tightrope for him, whichever way he decides to go. There are analysts and critics watching his every move with hawk eyes.

This Washington Post-ABC News poll was conducted by conventional and cellular phones from Oct. 15 to 18 among a random sample of 1,004 adults. The margin of sampling error for the full poll is plus or minus three percentage points.

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