Afghan President Calls for Timeline Amid Talk of U.S. "Surge"

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, meeting with a U.N. Security Council delegation today, called for a timeline on the war in Afghanistan. Karzai did not offer a specific time frame, but said, "If there is no deadline, we have the right to find another solution for peace and security, which is negotiations." Meanwhile, talk of a possible U.S. surge in Afghanistan has surfaced in recent weeks, with Defense Secretary Robert Gates announcing his support last week for deploying roughly 20,000 additional troops to the region.

Violence in Afghanistan is at an all-time high, and U.S. officials have widely cited a sharp increase in Taliban attacks and U.S., British and Canadian casualties. Military leaders have also expressed a general frustration with the performance of NATO allied forces. President-elect Obama has echoed the sentiment of a renewed U.S. presence and strategy in Afghanistan, amid rumors that he may retain Gates in his role as defense secretary.

Public attitudes about the war effort in Afghanistan have deteriorated markedly over time. More than half (55 percent) of Americans in a September CBS News/ New York Times poll said the war in Afghanistan is going "somewhat" (32 percent) or "very badly" (23 percent), an increase of 41 percentage points since March 2003. Yet while majorities continue to say the war in Iraq was a mistake, two-thirds say the U.S. involvement in the war in Afghanistan was not a mistake.

Our Confidence in U.S. Foreign Policy Index has similarly indicated a significant decline over time in public confidence regarding the U.S. effort in Afghanistan. Just 28 percent give the U.S. "A" and "B" grades for "succeeding in meeting our objectives in Afghanistan," a 12-point drop since we first asked the question in 2005. But perhaps the key takeaway in our analysis has been the clear movement in public attitudes toward a more diplomatic approach. Seven in 10 (69 percent) say the government should "put more emphasis on diplomatic and economic methods", over military efforts (23 percent), and six in 10 (59 percent) believe that "improved communication and dialogue with the Muslim world will reduce hatred of the U.S.