Percentage of Afghans who think their country is moving in the wrong direction has increased six fold
A new national public opinion poll in Afghanistan conducted for ABC News, the BBC, and ARD German TV shows that the United States, Nato, and the Afghan government of Hamid Karzai are losing the hearts and minds of Afghan people. Support for the Afghan government and its Western allies has plummeted. In 2005, the vast majority of Afghans felt their country was moving in the right direction, compared with only six percent who thought opposite. Today, the percentage of those who think their country is not moving in the right direction has increased six fold to 38 per cent. Only 40 per cent are still optimistic. The percentage of Afghans with favourable views of the United States has dropped from 83 per cent to less than half. Significantly, though, 58 per cent of Afghans believe the Taliban are the biggest danger to their country. Only eight per cent feel that way about the United States.