One year after the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, 50% of Americans say the United States made a mistake in sending troops to the country, while 46% say it did not.
According to Gallup, this close division of views is similar to two readings last year — one taken before the withdrawal was complete and one afterward — as well as in February 2014.
At all other times since the start of the war in 2001, a majority of Americans thought that going to Afghanistan was not a mistake.
The Afghanistan war cost the U.S. more than $2 trillion.
About one month after then-President George W. Bush ordered the first attacks on Afghanistan by U.S. troops, the effort enjoyed broad bipartisan support.
Yet by 2004, 41% of Democrats considered the war in Afghanistan a mistake, and 26% of independents agreed, compared with 11% of Republicans.
Since then, Democrats and independents have been far more likely than Republicans to say the U.S. had made a mistake by sending troops.
In a poll conducted after the collapse of the former government, 28% of Republicans said the war was a mistake. But now, about a year later, that figure has risen nine percentage points to 37%.
