Just 35 pct. of Americans support continuing Afghan occupation, poll finds

A record number of Americans oppose the US war in Afghanistan, according to a recently released poll.

A national CNN/Opinion Research poll (.pdf) Thursday revealed that a majority thought the war was going badly and 63 percent completely opposed it.

Only 35 percent favored the war.

That's down from December 2008, when 52 percent were in favor of the continued occupation.

The survey showed a clear partisan divide. A majority of Republicans supported the war. In comparison, more than six in ten independents and 74 percent of Democrats were in opposition.

Almost six in ten Republicans thought the war was going well, while most Democrats and independents said things were going badly.

Official figures showed that the war claimed 10,081 lives in 2010. Of those, 8,560 were civilians, police and militants.

As of last Tuesday, the 2010 death toll for NATO troops was at 700. An independent website, icasualties.org, puts the death toll for international troops at 711.

President Obama's administration has vowed to begin a withdrawal of US troops starting in July of this year, but in recent months administration spokespeople have been backtracking on that deadline.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has called for a permanent US military presence in country.

"The idea of putting permanent military bases on the table in 2011, I think, would secure our national interests and tell the bad guys and the good guy we're not leaving, we are staying," he said Sunday.