Poll: U.S. support for Afghan war drops

NEW YORK, March 27 (UPI) -- U.S. support for the war in Afghanistan has fallen following renewed violence and diplomatic setbacks, results of a New York Times-CBS News poll indicated.

The survey found 69 percent of Americans said they thought the United States shouldn't be at war in the Asian country, up from 53 percent four months ago, results released Monday indicated.

The poll also found 68 percent of Americans said they thought fighting was going "somewhat badly" or "very badly," compared with 42 percent who had those impressions in November.

Negative impressions of the war were high among Republicans and Democrats, pollsters said. Among Republicans, 60 percent said the war was going somewhat or very badly. Among Democrats, 68 percent said the war was going somewhat or very badly.

In recent weeks, a U.S. Army staff sergeant has been accused of killing 17 Afghan citizens, U.S. troops burned copies of the Koran and men dressed in Afghan military garb killed three American troops in two incidents. After the shooting spree in Kandahar province, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said coalition forces should withdraw to their bases.

Forty-four percent of respondents said the United States should withdraw sooner than scheduled in 2014 while 33 percent said the administration should adhere to the timetable. Seventeen percent said the United States should stay as long as necessary and 3 percent said the United States should withdraw now.

Results are based on nationwide telephone interviews with 986 adults from Wednesday through Sunday. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.