Support for war in Afghanistan continues to drop

The number of people who believe the United States should be at war in Afghanistan continues to drop, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll, released Tuesday.

According to the survey, 69 percent are now against the ongoing U.S. presence in Afghanistan, a drop from 53 percent in the same poll four months ago. 

The negative opinion crossed party lines with those surveyed. The poll found 60 percent of Republicans agreeing the war was going somewhat or very badly, an increase from 40 percent in November. And 68 percent of Democrats gave the same response, compared with 38 percent in the last survey. 

President Obama has a goal of removing 23,000 troops from Afghanistan by the end of the summer, in addition to the 10,000 troops who left last year. But several Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee have called for a "pause" in the drawdown in order to avoid compromising the fragile peace in the state. Concerns over the relationship between the United States and the Afghan government have been raised over the first few months of 2012 due to several incidents involving members of the U.S. military. Earlier in March, a U.S. soldier allegedly killed more than a dozen Afghan civilians in a rogue attack, an incident that sparked outrage in both countries.

Such reports appear to have disillusioned U.S. citizens about progress in Afghanistan, according to the poll, and contributed to the number of people who perceive the war to be going "badly."

The poll, conducted March 21-25, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

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