With the U.S. and the UK poised to launch a major offensive against the Taliban, Gallup's Julie Ray and Rajesh Srinivasan have released some polling on Afghan's attitude toward the U.S. over 2009:
The authors conclude:
In the most recent survey, Afghans' opinions of the United States, as a nation, were the lowest Gallup has measured to date. Asked to rate the extent of their favorability on a 5-point scale, where 1 is very unfavorable and 5 is very favorable, a majority of Afghans (52%) rated the United States very (24%) or somewhat unfavorable (28%).
Keep in mind that these polls were taken at what we can only hope was the height of the Taliban insurgency. If coalition forces are able to suppress the insurgency, I would expect Afghan views of the U.S. to improve.
