Americans harboring mixed feelings over Afghanistan

“Younger Americans, who probably learned about the Vietnam War only through textbooks, don't necessarily see quite the same parallels,” said CNN Polling Director Keating Holland. “But for older Americans they're really starting to get a little bit of a sense of deja vu.”

The newest CNN Opinion Research poll found that a majority of Americans oppose the war in Afghanistan and think it's turning into another Vietnam, the most divisive and painful defeat in modern American history.

Obama has been struggling for weeks to set a new strategy for Afghanistan and is trying to decide whether to deploy more troops. A majority of Americans are opposed to that too.

It's easy to be reminded of the way a generation of GIs went to Southeast Asia, starting with a handful of advisors in the 1950s, rising to more than 500,000 troops by 1968.

When Obama took office, there were about 38,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. He's raised the number to 65,000 and is said to be considering adding another 40,000 more.

And he resists the comparison between the two conflicts.

“Each historical moment is different. You never step in the same river twice,” Obama said in an interview last month. “And so Afghanistan is not Vietnam.”

The most important difference may be that the current war isn't being fought against the perceived threat of Communism half a world away, but as a result of the deadly 9/11 attacks on the U.S. itself.

That's why, despite all their doubts, Americans want the president to keep fighting.

The CNN poll which showed a majority opposing the war in Afghanistan also found an even bigger majority who believe it's necessary to keep the military there to prevent more terror attacks on the U.S.

The best explanation may be this: Americans don't want to send more troops into Afghanistan and they don't want to keep fighting there. But they are afraid of what will happen if they leave the battlefield behind.

Jonathan Mann hosts the weekly half hour program “Political Mann” on CNN International. www.cnn.com/politicalmann

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