[NYTr] Europeans, Canadians Agree: Afghan War Another Miserable Failure

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Angus Reid Polls - Aug 27, 2007
http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/17006


Europeans, Canadians See Afghan Mission as Failure

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Few adults in five nations that have
provided military assistance in Afghanistan believe the mission is
proceeding adequately, according to a poll by Angus Reid Strategies.
Only 22 per cent of respondents in Canada think the war against
militant groups in Afghanistan has been mostly a success.

Italy is next on the list with 18 per cent, followed by Britain with 16
per cent, Germany with 15 per cent, and France with 12 per cent. More
than 60 per cent of German, Italian, British and French respondents—as
well as 49 per cent of Canadians—think the military effort in
Afghanistan has been a failure so far.

Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The
conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to
hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks
in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed
four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.

At least 652 soldiers—including 70 Britons, 69 Canadians, 21 Germans,
10 French and nine Italians—have died in the war on terrorism, either
in support of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom or as part of the
International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

On Aug. 22, British prime minister Gordon Brown and German chancellor
Angela Merkel discussed the current state of affairs. Brown declared:
"I believe there is a united international interest in making sure that
the Taliban do not restore control in Afghanistan. The benefits of
young children being able to go to school, 5 million more children at
school, girls getting education for the first time are obvious to see,
but of course this demands a coordinated international effort."

Merkel added: "Our countries have different responsibilities that are
part and parcel of the same mission, that is a mission that has to
continue, and wherever an increase of our efforts and engagement and
commitment is required, be that in the police, in reconstruction
efforts, then we have to attend to that."

Polling Data

(Your country) has contributed troops to the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) mission in Afghanistan. So far, do you think the
war against militant groups in Afghanistan has been mostly a success or
mostly a failure?

...............BRI...FRA...ITA...GER...CAN

A Success......16%...12%...18%...15%...22%

A Failure......63%...63%...66%...69%...49%

Not Sure.......21%...25%...16%...16%...29%

Source: Angus Reid Strategies

Methodology: Online interviews with 5,075 adults in Britain, Canada,
France, Germany and Italy, conducted from Jul. 26 to Aug. 11, 2007.
Margin of error for each country is 3.1 per cent.

Complete Report (PDF) HERE:
http://www.angus-reid.com/admin/collateral/pdfs/polls/Afghanistan_Global.pdf