Poll: Support for Afghan war increases

WASHINGTON, June 7 (UPI) -- Support for the Afghan war among Americans rose for the first time since President Obama said he would raise troop levels 18 months ago, a poll indicates.

Forty-three percent of those asked say the war is worth fighting, compared with 31 percent in March, results of The Washington Post-ABC News poll released Monday indicated. However, a majority of respondents still say the 10-year-old war is not worth fighting, despite the killing last month of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. forces in Pakistan.

Results indicated nearly three in four respondents say the administration should withdraw a "substantial number" of troops from Afghanistan this summer, even though less than half of poll participants said they thought the government would do so.

Obama, who met Monday with his national security team to discuss Afghanistan, is nearing a decision about how many of the nearly 100,000 U.S. troops to withdraw in July. He has said the initial troop pullout would be "significant," with estimates ranging from 3,000 troops to 5,000 troops.

Results are based on a nationwide telephone survey of 1,002 adults conducted Thursday through Sunday. The margin of error is 3.5 percentage points.