Our wartime propaganda

You'd never know from media reports that most British people want troops withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of the year

Seumas Milne
guardian.co.uk, Monday 13 July 2009

"From the way official Britain pontificates about the war in Afghanistan, you'd never know that most British people want troops withdrawn by the end of the year and only a minority have supported the US-led campaign for years....

Of course, British public hostility towards the Afghanistan occupation is mirrored in most countries in the world (in the US it is pretty evenly divided). Even in Afghanistan itself, where polling under conditions of foreign military occupation would be expected to be skewed towards the occupier, a recent BBC-sponsored poll in February found a majority saying they want foreign troops withdrawn within one to two years and negotiations with the Taliban (pdf).

But, hey, what does public opinion in either country count in a war for democracy?"