US | Afghanistan Poll: 42% See Afghanistan War as 'Mistake' Figure highest since question first asked in November 2001 By Matt Cantor Posted Mar 17, 2009 8:55 AM CDT Copied US soldiers patrol near the site of an explosion on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, March 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool) Americans increasingly think the war in Afghanistan was a bad move from the start, a USA Today/Gallup poll this weekend found. Some 42% of respondents said it was a “mistake” to send troops to Afghanistan, the highest percentage since the question was first asked in a November 2001 poll. Last month that figure was 30%; only 6% called the war a mistake in January 2002. Meanwhile, 38% said the Afghanistan effort is going well, the lowest mark since 2006. The public’s support for the war “is critical because it's almost certainly going to be very long and very difficult,” said a military analyst. Read These Next James Carville has a new 4-word political mantra. "Theo" from The Cosby Show has died at age 54. Dog the Bounty Hunter shares unimaginably sad news. The weekend was full of not-so-great headlines about Delta. Report an error