Thursday, December 08, 2005

Quagmire

… 77 percent of Afghans say their country is headed in the right direction — compared with 30 percent in the vastly better-off United States. Ninety-one percent prefer the current Afghan government to the Taliban regime, and 87 percent call the U.S.-led overthrow of the Taliban good for their country. Osama bin Laden, for his part, is as unpopular as the Taliban; nine in 10 view him unfavorably.

Progress fuels these views: Despite the country's continued problems, 85 percent of Afghans say living conditions there are better now than they were under the Taliban. Eighty percent cite improved freedom to express political views. And 75 percent say their security from crime and violence has improved as well. After decades of oppression and war, many Afghans see a better life.

ABC News: Poll: Four Years After the Fall of the Taliban, Afghans Optimistic About the Future

8 comments:

ambisinistral said...

Yea, after all, what works for one group of fuzzy-wuzzies is bound to work for another.

Charlie Martin said...

Mark: Bush's model:

(1) throw out the bad guys
(2) establish a democratic, popularly elected government.
(3) leave.

Both Afghanistan and Iraq are in stage 2.

ex-democrat said...

The report is very heartening.

Almost as encouraging is the way the information is presented in a relatively neutral and objective tone supported by links to the source material and underlying methodology.

Is the MSM re-learning the craft of news reporting from the blogosphere?

Morgan said...

Oh, sure, things look good now. Just wait until winter.

Charlie Martin said...

Oh, sure, things look good now. Just wait until winter.

You're not kidding: it's freaking freezing.

Oh, you meant in Afghanistan.

Charlie Martin said...

… but seriously, I was always a little astonished about that. Afghanistan and Colorado have very similar climates and topography, and we never worry that the Army won't be able to operate at Fort Carson in the wintertime.

ambisinistral said...

This is a pretty entertaining trip down memory lane.

Unknown said...

mark:

Well maybe that is because the anti war movement has not been giving as much aid and comfort to the Taliban as they have the Iraqi terrorists.