Americans split on whether putting troops in Afghanistan was 'mistake'

Americans are evenly divided about whether going to war in Afghanistan after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks on U.S. soil was a good decision, a poll found. Forty-nine percent of those surveyed said sending U.S. troops to Afghanistan in 2001 was "a mistake," Gallup reported Wednesday. Another 48 percent said the invasion was the right thing to do. That's the greatest division of opinion on the war since it began, Gallup said. A poll conducted shortly after American troops entered the country found 89 percent agreed with the decision. Subsequent polls have found support for the war steadily declined. Republicans were most likely to still back the war, Gallup said. Sixty-two percent said the conflict in Afghanistan was not a mistake, while 59 percent of Democrats said it was. Responses were similar to those about American involvement in other conflicts since the end of World War II. About 80 percent of Americans initially supported sending U.S. troops to Korea in the summer of 1950, but six months later 49 percent of those polled by Gallup said the decision had been wrong. Shortly after President Lyndon Johnson escalated the Vietnam War in 1965, 24 percent said continued involvement was an error. By 1967, 47 percent said having troops there was a mistake. Only 15 months after war began with Iraq in March 2003, 54 percent of Americans said it was a mistake, Gallup said. The latest poll was conducted Feb. 6-9 with 1,023 randomly selected adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The margin of error was 4 percentage points.