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Support For Military Action Remains Strong

Support For Military Action Remains Strong

Eight out of 10 Americans also support the use of ground troops

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- The American people continue to express high levels of support for the U.S.-led military action against Afghanistan, and also continue to give President George W. Bush the same high job approval ratings he has earned over the past month. Support for the use of U.S. ground troops in Afghanistan is also high. About half of those who support the use of ground troops favor their use to gain and hold Afghan territory rather than the more limited role in which they have been engaged so far.

Little Change in High Levels of Support for Military Action

Nine out of 10 Americans interviewed Oct. 19-21 approve of the "current military action in Afghanistan" -- roughly in line with prospective support levels that existed before the first U.S.-led coalition strikes were launched on Oct. 7, and similar to support levels in the two weeks since.

Do you approve or disapprove of the current U.S. military action in Afghanistan?
Oct. 19-21, ‘01

Eight out of 10 Support Use of Ground Troops

Support for the use of ground troops in Afghanistan also remains very strong, although slightly below the levels of support for military action generally. This has been the case in most polling conducted since the Sept. 11 attacks. In our weekend poll, 80% of Americans say they favor use of ground troops in Afghanistan, while 18% are opposed.

News reports suggest that U.S. and allied ground troops -- so far -- have been used in very limited, "in and out" missions in Afghanistan. The public is split on the issue of whether these types of actions are most appropriate, or if the United States should use its ground forces to take over and hold areas of Afghanistan indefinitely. Of those who support ground troops, about half -- representing 40% of all Americans -- say that they should be used in more expanded roles, while the other half, 37%, say that their role should be more limited.

Do you favor or oppose the U.S. using ground troops in Afghanistan?

If you had to choose, which of the following comes closer to your view: U.S. ground troops should be used for limited missions which would send U.S. forces into Afghanistan for only a few days or weeks at a time, or U.S. ground troops should be used to take over areas in Afghanistan for an indefinite period of time?
Oct. 19-21, ‘01

Support for the use of ground troops differs among subgroups in the population. Women, Democrats, liberals, non-whites and those with lower levels of education are least likely to favor their use.

Support for the Use of U.S. Ground Troops in Afghanistan

   
 

%

Republican

90

Male

88

Conservative

88

College education

84

White

83

National Average

80

Moderate

78

Independent

78

High School education

75

Female

72

Democrat

72

Liberal

70

Non-white

64

Removing bin Laden Not Number One Objective for Americans

The specific objectives of the current military action in Afghanistan are less clear than they may have been in previous American wars. In recent weeks, however, the administration has moved to emphasize that finding Osama bin Laden is not the only, or even the primary, goal of the actions. Americans appear to have noted this and are significantly more likely to say that either removing the Taliban from power or destroying terrorist operations should be the most important military objective -- rather than capturing or killing bin Laden. A plurality, 41%, say that destroying terrorist operations in Afghanistan is the most important goal.

If you had to choose, which of the following would you say is the most important goal of the U.S. military action in Afghanistan -- [ROTATED: destroying terrorist operations in Afghanistan, (or) capturing or killing Osama bin Laden, (or) removing the Taliban from power in Afghanistan]?

 

Destroying terrorist operations

Capturing or killing
bin Laden

Removing
the Taliban
from power


OTHER
(vol.)


No
opinion

           

2001 Oct 19-21

41%

25

29

3

2



Current Levels of Humanitarian Support Considered Adequate

The war in Afghanistan is unusual in that it has encompassed the delivery of humanitarian aid to the people of a country while that country simultaneously undergoes heavy military bombardment. Earlier this month, Gallup polling found that Americans make a clear distinction between the people of Afghanistan on the one hand and their leaders and terrorists on the other. A majority of Americans feel favorably towards the people while feeling decidedly unfavorable toward the Taliban and Osama bin Laden.

The evidence from this weekend's poll, however, suggests that there is no strong sentiment among Americans that more should be done to help Afghans. About two-thirds say the United States is doing about "the right amount" to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan, while 20% say the United States is doing too much. Just 12% say the United States is doing too little.

From what you know, do you think the U.S. is doing -- [ROTATED: too much, the right amount, or too little] -- to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Afghanistan?

 

 


Too much

The right
amount


Too little

No
opinion

         

2001 Oct 19-21

20%

64

12

4



As is inevitably the case in war, there have been reports (some confirmed and some not) of civilian casualties. Most recently, the Taliban government has claimed that U.S. bombs hit a hospital. At this point, 85% of Americans say that such casualties may simply be an unavoidable aspect of war, while only 13% say more should have been done to avoid them.

There have been reports recently about civilian casualties in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S. military action there. Which comes closer to your view -- [ROTATED: these civilian casualties are an unavoidable aspect of war, (or) these civilian casualties could have been avoided if the U.S. took proper care]?

 

 

Casualties are unavoidable

Casualties could
be avoided

No
opinion

       

2001 Oct 19-21

85%

13

2



Bush Job Approval Remains Very High

The American people continue to give President George W. Bush extraordinarily high job approval ratings. Over the weekend, 88% said they approved of the job he is doing in office, little changed from four previous polls Gallup has conducted since Sept. 11. Bush's job approval has averaged 88% since the attacks.

Presidential Job Approval
Do you approve or disapprove of the way George W. Bush is handling his job as president?
Oct. 19-21, ‘01

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,006 adults, 18 years and older, conducted Oct. 19-21, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/5008/Support-Military-Action-Remains-Strong.aspx
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