Gabriela Perdomo – Call it the Iraq war effect. With no doubt left that the coalition effort to topple Saddam Hussein has turned to be the biggest military mess of our time, people in various Western nations with troops in Afghanistan are now turning their eyes to the war on terror and wondering, is Afghanistan the next Iraq?

Since the United States launched the war on terror, which included combating "government sponsors of terrorism", in 2001, 791 soldiers from 19 different ally countries have been killed in Afghanistan, the main battleground of the war. Public opinion polls in five countries with a heavy presence in Afghanistan—the United States, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and France—show signs of growing opposition to the war.

In September 2003, a survey by Opinion Dynamics showed 55 per cent of Americans were confident that the U.S. and its allies were winning the war on terror. Exactly three years later, a poll by Opinion Research Corporation asked Americans who was winning the war in Afghanistan. Only 28 per cent of respondents said the U.S., 10 per cent said the insurgents, and 58 per cent said neither side was ahead.

Despite the drop in optimism, people in the U.S. still largely believe their country was right to engage in a military operation in Afghanistan. A Pew Research Center for the People and the Press survey conducted last February revealed that 65 per cent of Americans still think their country was right to use force in Afghanistan, and 61 per cent want the troops to stay there—even if 41 per cent are ready to admit that the effort is not going very well. Compared to the frustration with Iraq—evidenced by the 63 per cent of respondents to a Gallup poll who regret the decision to launch the coalition effort—the war in Afghanistan still enjoys of some degree of popularity in the U.S. But this is not necessarily the case in other countries, where public opinion is turning against the Western intervention in Afghanistan.

British soldiers have shouldered much of the burden of the war, with 176 casualties so far. A YouGov poll conducted last December showed Britons are largely skeptic of their military achievements in Afghanistan. Sixty-three per cent want troops to return home either immediately or within a year.

In Canada, Afghanistan has become a contentious political issue. A government led by the Liberal party first sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, but since 2006 the Liberals are in opposition to the Conservative government led by Stephen Harper. Any criticism to the Afghan mission is a slippery slope for both major political forces, but debates about what to do there abound—especially when Canada has lost 82 soldiers in the war, the third highest toll amongst allies after the U.S. and Britain. Meanwhile, the public remains confused. Several polls by Angus Reid Strategies have shown Canadians are increasingly seeing their presence in Afghanistan as a war effort—as opposed to a peace operation—and a majority feels the government has failed to explain the mission to the citizens. The most recent survey, conducted just after the House of Commons decided to extend Canada’s mission in Afghanistan until 2011, showed 58 per cent of respondents opposing the decision.

In November 2007, the Dutch government extended the country’s commitment in Afghanistan for another two years, and planned for a full withdrawal sometime next year. A Maurice de Hond poll conducted in April shows that half of people in the Netherlands are opposed to the mission. The story is no different in France, where opposition to the country’s participation in the war on terror has always been predominant. Just after the government of French president Nicolas Sarkozy announced the deployment of hundreds of new soldiers to Afghanistan, an Ifop survey revealed in April that 55 per cent of French people oppose the troop surge.

The mess in Iraq has certainly contributed to growing concerns in western nations that Afghanistan could be heading in the same direction. Other factors are also shaping public opinion on this war front. The image of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has been bruised by the waning popularity of the U.S. around the world. Also, despite the fact that Afghan president Hamid Karzai continues to see the need for keeping foreign troops in his country, he has repeatedly criticized NATO’s air operations, which usually carry a high civilian death toll. NATO—backed by a United Nations (UN) mandate—currently leads most of the international community’s engagement in Afghanistan. A negative image leads to citizens in Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, France and other allies in the war on terror wanting to cut loose from NATO’s military operations.

The situation in Afghanistan itself is also alarming the public. Osama bin Laden, the original reason that triggered the effort to topple the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, remains at large. On Apr. 27, Karzai survived an assassination attempt in Kabul, the country’s capital, by Taliban members. The episode underlined how delicate the situation remains despite well-documented progress.

But perhaps the main reason for waning public support for the war in terror in participating countries is poor communication and misinformation. On Apr. 29, U.S. president George W. Bush said his country faces "a long struggle" in Afghanistan. His country will need a good number of allies to succeed. And if those allies want to stay committed to the war, they should do a better job informing their own citizens about what, exactly, they are doing in Afghanistan. Failure to do so will only make more people question their role in the mission.