Afghan's turn optimistic with surge of troops

ABC News:

Hopes for a brighter future have soared in Afghanistan, bolstered by a broad rally in support for the country's re-elected president, improved development efforts and economic gains. Blame on the United States and NATO for violence has eased – but their overall ratings remain weak.

In one key shift, the latest poll by ABC News, the BBC and ARD German TV finds that sharply more Afghans now see the Taliban as the main source of their country's strife, while many fewer blame the United States or its allies – significant progress in a central aim of the new commander of U.S. and NATO forces, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

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Another, basic change is larger still: After steep declines in recent years there's been a 30-point advance in views that the country is headed in the right direction; 70 percent now say so, the most since 2005. Afghans' expectations that their own lives will be better a year from now have jumped by 20 points, to 71 percent, a new high. And there's been a 14-point rise in expectations that the next generation will have a better life, to 61 percent.

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There also are significant regional differences. Support for U.S. and NATO efforts are sharply lower in the South and East, where the fighting is heaviest. Local support for the Taliban rises to 27 percent on its home turf, in the country's Southwest, vs. 10 percent in the rest of the country. And views of the country's direction are markedly less bright in some high-conflict areas, such as Helmand, heart of the opium poppy trade.

Critical from the U.S. perspective is that, despite poor views of its performance, 68 percent of Afghans continue to support the presence of U.S. forces in their country – and nearly as many, 61 percent, favor the coming surge of Western troops initiated by President Obama. But support for the surge drops to 42 percent in the South and East; support for the presence of U.S. forces also drops in these regions, and support for attacks on U.S. and NATO forces, while sharply down overall, remains much higher in the restive South.

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There are a few negatives in the poll including the anxiety caused by the clearing operations in Helmand and elsewhere in the South. At the link you can find links to the prf file giving the specifics of the poll and the questions asked.

In areas that have been cleared of the Taliban such as Nawa, there is considerable support for the US presence and I suspect that some of those polled in the area not yet cleared are concerned that the Taliban might find out about their answers. It will be interesting to see similar polling after the effects of the surge.

There is a good bit of anger at the corruption in the country and I view that as a good sign.Everyone should be intolerant of corruption and it is incumbent on the government to clean it up. Corruption is theft from the people. They should demand public servants who will not engage in it or tolerate it.