Majority Says Afghanistan Is Turning into a Vietnam

Fifty-two percent of Americans believe that the eight-year old war in Afghanistan is turning into another Vietnam while 46 percent disagree, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted Oct. 16-18. The margin of error is 3 points.

A larger majority - 59 percent - opposes sending more troops to Afghanistan as the commander there, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, has requested. Of those, 28 percent say the U.S. should withdraw all troops, 21 percent want a partial pullout and 8 percent say troop levels should remain about the same. Thirty-nine percent favor sending more troops.

Despite those sentiments, six in 10 Americans said it was necessary to keep American troops in Afghanistan in order to prevent a terrorist attack on the U.S.