Veterans and Citizens Initiative
10 November 2021
Polling Firm: YouGov
Sample Size: n=1,000 US Citizens (nationally representative)
Fieldwork Dates: July 21-25, 2022
Margin of Error: +/- 3.1 for US avg.
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Americans’ Memories of the Afghanistan War
August 10, 2022
Topic
Veterans and Citizens Initiative
American Identity
Based on our survey conducted with 1,000 Americans and several online focus groups, this report explores Americans’ perceptions and memories of the war in Afghanistan. We find that the public shares high levels of negativity towards the war, and that an alarming narrative of “another Vietnam” is taking hold with many Americans. This report was released approximately one year after the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Key Takeaways
- Americans appear to lack a strong set of shared memories about the Afghanistan War.
- When asked to list important events from the war, many Americans can only identify one or two events.
- Americans’ feelings towards the Afghanistan War are similar to their feelings towards the Vietnam War.
- Americans feel quite negatively towards both the Afghanistan War and the Vietnam War. They are more likely to see both wars as mistakes that did not make the country safer and that were justified by politicians’ lies.
- Americans are unsure whether veterans of the Afghanistan War are similar to veterans of the Vietnam War, but feel they are different from veterans of World War II.
- A slight majority of Americans see more differences than similarities between Afghanistan veterans and veterans of World War II.
Methodology
In January 2022, More in Common launched an online community of approximately 400 Americans titled “Americans in Conversation”. We engage them in an online survey platform. From June 2-8, 2022, we asked Americans about their views on American wars in the Middle East. A total of N=291 US participants completed the activity, with participants roughly representative across US Census demographics such as age, gender, race, and partisanship.
22%
of Americans feel the Afghanistan War made America safe.
57%
of Americans believe it was a mistake in sending troops to fight.
46%
of Americans feel America did not end the Afghanistan War with honor.
Overview
Although Afghanistan is not the first conflict where Americans use earlier wars as reference points, our research indicates that Americans may not be forming strong shared memories of the unique events and dynamics of the war. Instead, a narrative of “another Vietnam” seems to be taking hold with many Americans. Such a narrative has the potential to both reopen painful divisions regarding the Vietnam War and to impede learning and healing from the Afghanistan War. America still has time to change course with how the nation memorializes and remembers Afghanistan. The data in this report is intended to help spark conversation and action to do the hard work of remembering what we lost, what we gained, and how Afghanistan impacted all of us and the world we face now.
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