Poll: Nearly 7 in 10 Afgans support U.S. forces in their country

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President Obama’s troop surge has divided the American public, but in Afghanistan where those troops will be stationed a clear majority favor U.S. presence in their country.

Conducted between December 11-23rd of 1,534 randomly sampled Afghan adults the survey was a joint effort between ABC News, the BBC and the Afghan Center for Socio-Economic and Opinion Research (ACSOR) in Kabul.

Nearly seven in ten Afghans polled support U.S. forces in their country with 61% in favor of President Obama and NATO’s plan to deploy 37,000 additional troops. The overall level of support for U.S. involvement from Afghani citizens far exceeds the troop support in Iraq. In polls taken shortly before the American midterm elections in 2006 nearly two-thirds (65%) of Iraqi’s favored an immediate U.S. troop withdraw from their country.

Yet the support for American forces in Afghanistan is not felt evenly across all regions.

Support is lowest in the southern and eastern areas of the country bordering Pakistan where the fighting has been most intense. Just one in ten Afghans support the Taliban, but in the more rural southwest region that figure jumps to over a quarter (27%) of the local population. In certain areas like the southern Helmand province optimism remains scarce where the Taliban’s insurgency is strongest.

Never the less Afghan views seem to be shifting against the Taliban. 42% now blame the group for the violence in their country, up from just 15% who pointed the finger at the Taliban a year ago. Furthermore just 17% consider the violence a result of U.S. and NATO policies or interference down from more than half (53%) who felt that way last year.

After years of battered confidence Afghans are beginning to express greater optimism about the outlook of their country. Nearly seven in ten (69%) citizens believe Afghanistan is heading in the right direction. That’s up nearly thirty-percentage points from similar polling taken last January. 71% of Afghans also believe their lives will be better a year from now – up twenty-points in twelve-months. 61% meanwhile feel the next generation of Afghan adults will have a better life than they’ve had.

In domestic polling a mid-December survey from ABC News / Washington Post found that by a 52-44% margin most Americans approved of the way the President Obama was handling the situation in Afghanistan and considered the war worth fighting. 36% strongly supported the President’s plan to send 30,000 more troops into the country with 30% strongly opposed to his decision.

PHOTO CREDIT: ASSOCIATED PRESS / Dusan Vranic