Poll: Most Afghans say life is better now than under Taliban

87% believe 2001 US overthrow of the Taliban was a good thing.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
afghanistan prayers 88 (photo credit: )
afghanistan prayers 88
(photo credit: )
More than three-fourths of the people living in Afghanistan say living conditions, security from crime and freedom of expression have improved from the days when they were living under Taliban rule, an ABC News poll says. On the questions of jobs and economic opportunity, people are evenly divided on whether economic opportunities are better or worse. Almost nine in 10 - 87 percent - say the US-led overthrow of the Taliban in 2001 was a good thing for the people of Afghanistan. And three-fourths of Afghans say their country is headed in the right direction, far higher than in the United States, where only three of 10 say that. The optimism comes in a country where people say by a 2-1 margin that their own economic situation is bad, medical care is limited and basic services like electricity are not available for many people. Six in 10 Afghans say attacks on US troops cannot be justified, while three in 10 say they can. The poll of 1,089 adults was conducted by Charney Research with field work by the Afghan Center for Social and Opinion Research in Kabul from Oct. 8-18 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.