Fox News Polls Obama’s Withdrawal From Afghanistan

Excerpts of interest:

• By a decisive 74-20 percent margin, voters approve of the president’s decision to remove roughly 30,000 U.S. troops from Afghanistan by September 2012, according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday.

• Almost all Democrats (92 percent), about three-quarters of independents (74 percent) and over half of Republicans (55 percent) approve of the president’s plan. Women (77 percent) are more likely than men (71 percent) to approve.

• In announcing his decision last Wednesday the president said that, “we are meeting our goals.” Few voters -- 15 percent -- agree with that assessment. Nearly two-thirds (64 percent) think that while progress has been made, the Afghanistan mission has not yet been accomplished -- a view that spans the political spectrum. Majorities of Republicans (70 percent), Democrats (63 percent) and independents (54 percent) call the mission “incomplete.”

• Nearly half (48 percent) think the main reason was the upcoming 2012 presidential election. About one voter in four thinks the reason behind the drawdown was the U.S. can’t afford the war (24 percent). The smallest number -- 17 percent -- says the president’s main reason was he believes most U.S. goals have been achieved.

• A 59-percent majority of voters say they trust Petraeus more than Obama to decide next steps in Afghanistan. That’s twice as many as say they trust Obama more (27 percent).

• Eighty-six percent of Republicans say they trust Petraeus more to decide how to proceed, as do over half of independents (58 percent).

• Among Democrats, 49 percent say they trust the president more and 35 percent Petraeus.