Seven of 10 Afghans support U.S. presence

I’m not at all informed about how accurate polling can be in countries like Afghanistan, but an ABC News, BBC, and ARD German poll indicates Afghans want the United States to stick around for awhile and their optimism has improved.

My guess is Afghans are not all that in-tune with media reports on Obama speeches and administration policy changes concerning Afghanistan, rather the poll results are a direct reflection on improvements on the ground.

From Investor’s Business Daily.

Nearly seven out of 10 Afghans support the U.S. presence in their country, and 61% favor the president’s military expansion there. Among congressional Democrats, the results would likely be reversed.

ABC News, the BBC and ARD German TV announced their fifth survey of Afghan citizens since 2005. The national random sample of 1,534 Afghan adults between Dec. 11 and Dec. 23 shows a huge turnaround from last year — a 30% increase in favorability toward the American troop presence.

The IBD writers think Democrat opposition to military efforts in Afghanistan is obscene considering the poll, but I’m not one to pull ultimate faith in an Afghan poll. How accurate could it be?

… the Taliban have only 10% support, according to the ABC poll. Some 42% blame them for the violence that plagues Afghanistan, a gain of 27% from the last poll a year ago, while only 17% blame the U.S., NATO, the Karzai government or the Afghan security forces. That’s a drop of 36% from last January.

In light of such numbers, the opposition from Democrats in Congress to finishing the job in Afghanistan strikes us as obscene.

Is there any polling that clearly suggests Afghans want U.S. and NATO forces out of the country?