Connect with us

Latest News

Republicans and Democrats agree U.S. war in Afghanistan wasn’t worth fighting: poll

Published

on

(Last Updated On: October 18, 2023)

At a time when Americans are deeply divided along party lines, a new poll shows considerable agreement on at least one issue that is the United States’ two-decade-long war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting, the Associated Press reported on Wednesday.

The poll from the Pearson Institute for the Study and Resolution of Global Conflicts and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs suggest the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, seen by many as chaotic and ill-planned, may have been a turning point for President Joe Biden’s approval ratings, which started a downward slide around that time and have not recovered since.

Two-thirds of Americans say the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting; 65% of Democrats and 63% of Republicans agree on that evaluation. Many have doubts about how successful the U.S. was at accomplishing more specific goals such as eliminating the threat from extremists or improving opportunities for women.

“It was unwinnable from the beginning,” said Martin Stefen, a 78-year-old Republican who lives in Carson City, Nevada. He said the U.S. should have paid closer attention to what happened to the Soviet Union, which waged a decade-long war in Afghanistan during the 1980s only to pull out in defeat in 1989. And, he said, the U.S. should have had a more specific end goal for how it wanted the war in Afghanistan to go and a better understanding of the country’s tribal politics.

That thought was echoed by Justin Campbell, a 28-year-old Democrat from Brookhaven, Mississippi. He said it was clear after the U.S. was entrenched in Afghanistan that it didn’t have very deep support. Campbell said he’s not pleased that the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) is back in control.

“But I don’t think it was worth us staying over there,” he said.

Maliha Chishti, a lecturer and research associate at the Pearson Institute, said she was struck by the fact that after 20 years of war, so many American and Afghan lives lost and billions spent, the vast majority said they felt Afghanistan was not friendly to the U.S. or was an outright enemy. She said the responses demonstrate a frustration on the part of Americans and the need to ask questions about what went wrong with America’s attempts to intervene in Afghanistan.

“We invested all of this money to really build a state from scratch and when we left, that state completely collapsed,” she said.

Many Americans also say the United States was not successful with many of its key objectives in Afghanistan.

Eliminating the threat of terrorism in Afghanistan during the war is still seen as an important goal by many across party lines: 46% of Democrats and 44% of Republicans called that highly important. But only about one-quarter in each group said this successfully happened during the war.

Slightly fewer than half — 46% — say the U.S. and its allies were successful at the goal of apprehending or killing the individuals who were responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, compared with 25% who think the U.S. was unsuccessful in achieving that goal.

Only about one in five Americans say the U.S. successfully improved opportunities for women and girls in Afghanistan, with 43% saying such efforts were unsuccessful. But many said advancing the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan was important to them. About three quarters said that goal was extremely, very or somewhat important to them.

Latest News

The first flight of Afghan pilgrims leaves for Saudi Arabia

Published

on

(Last Updated On: May 9, 2024)

The Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs says that the process of transferring Hajj pilgrims from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia has started.

According to the ministry, about 230 Hajj pilgrims left on Wednesday, May 8, on the first flight to Medina.

The acting minister Noor Mohammad Saqib, said at a departure ceremony for the Afghan pilgrims that this year, in order to provide better services to Hajj pilgrims, the employees of the working committees have been sent to Saudi Arabia earlier than in previous years.

At the same time, Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs Abdul Salam Hanafi, said to the pilgrims during the ceremony: “Dear pilgrims, you are the representatives of the Afghan people in Saudi Arabia, so do this representation well.”

Hanafi added that with the efforts of the Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs, as in previous years, all Hajj activities this year have been prepared in an orderly manner.

Earlier, the acting minister announced that this year’s quota for Afghan pilgrims will be 30,000.

Ariana Afghan Airlines and Kam Air are the official carriers of pilgrims this year.

Continue Reading

Latest News

700 children with heart defects treated in past year: ARCS

Published

on

(Last Updated On: May 9, 2024)

Officials from the Afghan Red Crescent Society (ARCS) in the southwest of the country say they treated 700 children with heart defects last year and plan to treat another 15,000 children this year.

Marking World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day under the theme this year of “Keeping Humanity Alive”, officials and residents in Kandahar and Balkh provinces appealed to international organizations to continue helping Afghans.

Balkh local officials said support from ARCS had been received in the health, food preparation and cash distribution sectors.

The Afghan Red Crescent Society helps needy families across the country and coordinates and distributes humanitarian aid for other organizations.

Marking this day, IEA’s Prime Minister Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund also called on the people to help needy families.

According to a statement, Akhund asked aid organizations to increase and speed up their assistance in various sectors including health, economic assistance, and reconstruction.

Continue Reading

Latest News

Justice in light of Sharia applies equally to everyone: Deputy PM

Published

on

(Last Updated On: May 8, 2024)

Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, the political deputy prime minister, said Wednesday in a meeting with a number of elders, scholars and youths of the Hazara ethnic group in Kabul that justice in light of Islamic Sharia is applied equally to everyone.

The deputy PM’s office said in a statement that Kabir stressed that discrimination and prejudice have no place in the Islamic system, but the main goal is to serve the people.

“There is no place for ethnic, sectarian and linguistic prejudices and hypocrisy in Afghanistan. All Afghans should work together for the construction, development and prosperity of Afghanistan,” the statement read.

At the gathering, elders and scholars of the Hazara community demanded resolutions regarding their legal cases and other problems and assured the IEA of comprehensive cooperation with the Islamic system, the statement added.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2022 Ariana News. All rights reserved!