Poll: Public Ignorant About Afghanistan, Iran

Public opinion is always a tricky cudgel to wield while debating policy. It's useful when it agrees with you, not so helpful when it doesn't. But the larger problem with "public opinion" is that the public doesn't know that much. That's not an indictment per se, but it does cast resorts to public opinion in a more jaundiced light.

It's with that in mind that we turn to the latest Pew report on how respondents handled a pop quiz on issues in the news:

Only about four-in-ten (42%) knew that Iran and Israel do not share a border; 27% said the two countries do share a border and 30% did not answer. In March, 69% knew that Pakistan and Afghanistan do share a border.

The current news quiz also touches on the subject of Afghanistan. Fewer than three-in-ten (28%) correctly estimated that the U.S. has roughly 70,000 military personnel stationed in Afghanistan, while 25% believe the U.S. has a larger military presence there and 17% think that that U.S. force is smaller.