For those who like to be doubly sure

My buddy Greg is going to smack me if I keep stepping into his turf like this: two polls in three days. But I couldn't resist, seeing as this one supports what the other one said.

As always, you should peruse the entire document, as there are gems scattered throughout, but here are a couple of graphics that might surprise those who think our efforts in Afghanistan are misguided:





And here's the real kicker for that segment of the Canadian population, and the Canadian House of Commons for that matter, who feel we should be putting all our efforts into reconstruction in Kandahar right now:

In southwestern Afghanistan, the region most affected by the Taliban’s military resurgence, military aid receives a higher priority than among respondents in the rest of the country. Most preferred both kinds of aid (47%) or more military aid (19%). Only a third of respondents in this region (31%) favored more economic help alone. [my emphasis]

Again, I must stress that there's some troubling news exposed by this data as well: most notably, the progress of reconstruction is viewed as too slow by a growing segment of the population, and the percentage of the population who think the country is headed in the right direction is in decline.

But it seems that the average Afghan doesn't see the situation outside his own front door as unfavourably as the average Torontonian sees it from over 10,000 kms away.