(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The proportion of people in Australia who want to end their country’s commitment in Afghanistan has risen considerably, according to a poll by Essential Media Communications. 61 per cent of respondents think Australia should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, up 11 points since March 2009.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The proportion of people in Australia who want to end their country’s commitment in Afghanistan has risen considerably, according to a poll by Essential Media Communications. 61 per cent of respondents think Australia should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, up 11 points since March 2009.
On the contrary, 24 per cent of respondents say the Australian troops should stay in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden without evidence of his participation in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.
At least 1,870 soldiers—including 16 Australians—have died in the war on terrorism, either in support of the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom or as part of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Close to 1,500 Australian troops remain staged in Afghanistan.
Australia held a federal election in November 2007. Final results gave the Australian Labor Party (ALP) 85 seats in the 150-member House of Representatives. ALP leader Kevin Rudd was officially sworn in as prime minister in December, bringing an end to the 11-year tenure of Liberal leader John Howard as head of Australia’s government.
Howard was one of the staunchest supporters of the military interventions in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Rudd withdrew all Australian soldiers from Iraq in June 2008, but the country is still involved in the Afghanistan mission.
On Jun. 23, Australian defence minister John Faulkner said that the country’s training mission in Afghanistan may be shorter than initially expected, declaring, "What that means is that at some time in that two-year to four-year timeframe we would see our training mission transition to an over-watch role, and that would obviously mean (…) we would start to see a reduction in the number of troops in Afghanistan."
On Jun. 24, the ALP’s Julia Gillard was sworn in as Australia’s new prime minister after Rudd’s leadership was challenged by party members.
Polling Data
Thinking about the Australian troops in Afghanistan, do you think Australia should…?
|
|
Jun. 2010
|
Mar. 2009
|
|
Increase the number of troops in Afghanistan
|
7%
|
14%
|
|
Keep the same number of troops in Afghanistan
|
24%
|
24%
|
|
Withdraw our troops from Afghanistan
|
61%
|
50%
|
|
Don’t know
|
8%
|
12%
|
Source: Essential Media Communications
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,842 Australian adults, conducted in June 2010. No margin of error was provided.
