WASHINGTON: Even as President Barack Obama hails the Afghan election as an important step forward, the majority in his country believes the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting. Fifty-one per cent of those surveyed for a new Washington Post-ABC News poll said the human and economic cost of the war was too great, reported the National Public Radio, which got an advance copy of the survey.

Those who believe the war is worth its costs are now a minority, 41 per cent. Perhaps most significantly, passionate opposition to the war now significantly outstrips passionate support for it.

Forty-one per cent of those surveyed said they were strongly opposed to the US occupation. Just 31 per cent said they were strongly supportive.

The US media noted that record numbers of US deaths in Afghanistan and the skyrocketing war expenditures were having a major impact on how the American people view the Afghan war.

NPR, the most respected radio network in America, pointed that the American people saw ‘no evidence that the US occupation is making the country more stable, safe, free or humane’ and that’s why a majority of Americans were now saying ‘the war is not worth fighting.’

At the start of his presidency, President Obama authorised sending 17,000 additional US troops into Afghanistan. He said that the purpose of this troop-surge was to track down those responsible for the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and to make American safer.

But as the poll indicated, what worries the Americans even more than the fear of other terrorist attacks is seeing their country bogged down in a war that seems un-winnable.

There is widespread speculation that Gen Stanley A. McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, will request more troops in short order.

The poll results showed that this escalation is not going to play well with the American people, as the NPR reported pointed out.

A striking 45 per cent said they were opposed to dispatching more US troops to Afghanistan. Only 24 per cent of those surveyed expressed sympathy for Gen McChrystal’s scheme.

The NPR noted that the poll results also sent a strong signal to Congress ‘to check and balance the escalation of a war that should not be extended.’

So far, 95 lawmakers, including a number of previously pro-war Republicans, have signed on as co-sponsors to a bill that calls for an Afghan exit strategy.

The bill, moved by Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern, insists that the US has nothing to gain from a prolonged occupation and it should start working on an exit strategy now.

The US media noted that the August congressional recess provides an opening for anti-war activists to increase those numbers.

A group called Progressive Democrats of America is distributing an ‘End Wars and Occupations: Redirect Funding’ message among the lawmakers, which urges them to support the McGovern bill.

‘August Recess is the time to act! Congress needs to know that their constituent feel strongly about halting the war in Afghanistan, withdrawing US troops from Iraq, and reducing the overall size of the military budget,’ said PDA executive director Tim Carpenter.

‘They need to see concerned constituents taking action: Request a meeting with your senators and representatives or their staffs, or simply stop by their offices and tell them to vote against further funding and to support the McGovern bill.’