A new poll taken as the Taliban took over Afghanistan found most Americans believe the war in the country was “not worth fighting.”
According to an AP-NORC poll, 62% of Americans do not believe the war was worth fighting, and only 35% of Americans say the war was worth it. The response to whether the Iraq war was worth fighting was similar, with 63% of Americans saying it was not worth it and only 34% saying it was.
When asked about extremist groups, 65% of Americans say they are “extremely or very concerned” about the danger of extremist groups in the United States. Only 50% are concerned about extremists from foreign countries.
When it comes to President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy, 47% of Americans approve. The rating is a slight drop from the 50% approval in the June AP-NORC poll. The poll was conducted from August 12-16.
Afghanistan fell to the Taliban earlier this week as militiamen stormed Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul. Within hours of the takeover, Afghanistan’s president had left the country.
The president doubled down on his decision to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan during a speech on Monday. During an interview with ABC News’ George Stephanopolous, Biden was pressed on whether he thinks “this exit could have been handled better in any way, no mistakes?”
“No, I don’t think it could have been handled in a way that–we’re going to go back in hindsight and look, but the idea that somehow, there’s a way to have gotten out without chaos ensuing I don’t know how that happens,” Biden said.
Stephonapolous then asked, “So for you, that was always priced into the decision?”
He responded, “Yes.”
Biden also told Stephonapolous, “There is no good time to leave Afghanistan. Fifteen years ago would’ve been a problem, 15 years from now. The basic choice is am I gonna send your sons and your daughters to war in Afghanistan in perpetuity?”