Only 17 percent of Americans now support the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan, with the vast majority saying the United States should get out and go home.

A new CNN/ORC poll found that fully 82 percent oppose the operation — and that’s up from 46 percent, just five years ago.

The numbers show that the 12-year operation has become one of America’s most unpopular military conflicts CNN reported, and most Americans want U.S. troops to withdraw before the December 2014 deadline date.

“Those numbers show the war in Afghanistan with far less support than other conflicts,” CNN polling director Keating Holland said. “Opposition to the Iraq was never got higher than 69 percent in CNN polling while U.S. troops were in that country, and while the Vietnam War was in progress, no more than six in 10 ever told Gallup’s interviewers that war was a mistake,”

Only a quarter of poll respondents said the United States should maintain a military presence in the country after the December 2014 deadline for withdrawal. Fifty-seven percent, meanwhile, said the conflict isn’t going well for the United States — and only a third think America is winning.

“Independents have a much gloomier view of the war in Afghanistan than Republicans or Democrats,” Mr. Holland said, in CNN. “That may be because a Republican president started the war and a Democratic president has continued it, so there may be some residual support among people who identify with either party.”

More than 2,300 U.S. troops have died in the Afghanistan conflict, which started in late 2001.

The poll, conducted Dec. 16-19, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Sign up for Daily Newsletters Manage Newsletters

Copyright © 2020 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission.