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POLITICS

New Low: Only 15% Now Expect Situation in Afghanistan To Improve Over Next Six Months

Voter confidence about the short-term course of the war in Afghanistan has fallen to its lowest level in nearly two years, while confidence about the direction in Iraq over the next six months has dropped to the lowest point in almost five years of surveying.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 15% of Likely U.S. Voters now think the situation in Afghanistan will get better in the next six months. That’s down from a recent high of 27% in early May just after the killing of Osama bin Laden and the lowest level of confidence since October 2009.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) predict the situation in Afghanistan will get worse over the next six months, up from 21% in May and the highest level of pessimism since last September. Thirty-one percent (31%) expect it to remain about the same, while 16% are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters nationwide was conducted on August 9-10, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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