Poll: 'No' to US wars at all time high

Press TV, Thursday, 19 August, 2010, 07:38:52 GMT

A new opinion poll says the number of Americans opposed to the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq is at an all time high.

The CNN opinion poll found that 62 percent of the American people now think that the war in Afghanistan neither can be won, nor should it be fought at all, the Press TV correspondent in Washington reported on Thursday.

The poll also found that 69 percent of the Americans are now opposed to the US war in Iraq and favored the US President Barack Obama's plan to withdraw 50,000 US troops from the country.

The poll, on the other hand, shows 30 percent of Americans support the wars.

About 50-thousand American soldiers will remain in the war-torn Iraq until the end of 2011 to help train Iraqi forces. The nearly seven and a half year war has claimed the lives of nearly 4500 American troops and cost more than $900 billion.

It is estimated that the US war in Afghanistan will cost nearly $105 billion in the 2010 fiscal year. The figure is expected to rise in 2011, as costs per service member in Afghanistan are almost twice as expensive as they are in Iraq.

The United States has about 87,000 troops involved in the Afghan war and with more deployments on the way, the number is expected to reach over 100,000 by next year.

The combined costs for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have surpassed one-trillion dollars.

ASH/JM/HRF