Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan where all this started…

From The Washington Post:

A new poll in Afghanistan shows sagging support for U.S. efforts in that country, with airstrikes a chief concern. A quarter of the Afghans polled said that attacks on American or allied forces are justifiable, double the proportion saying so in late 2006.

The poll, the fourth conducted in Afghanistan since 2005 by ABC News and its media partners, also shows plummeting support for President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan government. …

…ratings of U.S. forces have declined precipitously; 32 percent said U.S. and coalition forces are performing well, down from 68 percent in 2005. And fewer than half of the respondents, 42 percent, have confidence in coalition forces to provide security in their areas.

Most troubling to the Afghans are U.S. airstrikes and civilian casualties. One in five said coalition forces have killed civilians in their area in the past year, and one in six reported nearby bombing or shelling at the hands of U.S. forces.

About eight in 10 called coalition airstrikes unacceptable, viewing the risk to innocent civilians as greater than the value of these raids in fighting the Taliban and other anti-government insurgents. More blame U.S. and coalition forces for poor targeting than blame the Taliban for keeping assets among civilians (41 percent to 28 percent); 27 percent said both sides shared the blame.

More also blame the country’s current travails on the United States, NATO or the Afghan government than on the Taliban (36 percent to 27 percent), but the Taliban is viewed as a greater long-term threat.”

You know, I guess it would be bad manners to point out that things might be different today if we had committed another 130,000 troops and a trillion dollars to Afghanistan back in 2002 instead of wandering off onto our Iraqi adventure. But seven years later, our options look increasingly slim.