CBS News 
 
 CBS News Poll analysis by the CBS News Polling Unit: Sarah Dutton, Jennifer De Pinto, Fred Backus and Anthony Salvanto. 
 
 Two weeks after an American soldier in Afghanistan allegedly went on a rampage killing 17 Afghan civilians, American confidence in the war is at an all-time low, a new CBS News/New York Times poll suggests. 
 
 According to the survey, conducted among 986 adults from March 21-25, just 23 percent of Americans believe the U.S. is doing the right thing by fighting in Afghanistan. That percentage - the lowest ever recorded by CBS News and the New York Times in this survey - is down from 36 percent in November 2011. Sixty-nine percent of Americans said the U.S. should not be involved in Afghanistan, the highest percentage of respondents who have said so since CBS News/New York Times started asking that question in 2009. 
 
 Only one in four Americans believes the war is going well for the U.S., the poll indicates, down from 48 percent last November. This percentage comes close to the question's all-time low, at 23 percent in November 2009, shortly before President Obama announced his plan for a surge of 30,000 troops in Afghanistan. 
 
 In recent months, a string of controversies involving U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan may have cast negative light on the ongoing conflict there: On March 11, an American Staff Sgt., Robert Bales, is accused of leaving his base in Southern Afghanistan to kill 17 Afghan civilians in what is being charged as a premeditated attack. In February, meanwhile, five U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan were found to have inadvertently burned discarded copies of the Koran, which sparked days of protests there and resulted in several deaths of U.S. troops and others. 
 
 The CBS News/New York Times survey finds that just 27 percent of Americans think the war there has been mostly a success for the U.S., while 59 percent say it has not been. In September of 2011, 39 percent felt the war had mostly been a success for the United States. 
 
 More Republicans than Democrats seem to have positive feelings about the war in Afghanistan. Thirty-seven percent of Republicans said they thought the war had been mostly a success for the U.S., and 32 percent think the U.S. is doing the right thing by fighting there. 
 
 Among Democrats and independents, positivity on those questions is lower: Of Democrats, 24 percent said they thought the war had been mostly a success and 18 percent think the U.S. is doing the right thing. Twenty-three percent of independents thought the war had been mostly a success, and 22 percent said the U.S. is doing the right thing. 
 
 Last June, President Obama announced that he would be bringing 10,000 troops home from Afghanistan by the end of 2011, with another 23,000 leaving no later than September 2012. By 2014, he said, the mission's transition "from combat to support" would be complete. 
 
 CBS News 
 
 According to the CBS News/New York Times survey, many Americans would like to get troops home sooner. Forty-seven percent of Americans said they would like to see the timetable for the departure of U.S. troops moved up. Thirty-three percent think the schedule for withdrawal should remain as is, and 17 percent think the U.S. should stay in Afghanistan for as long as it takes. 
 
 Most Americans (55 percent) say they do not have a clear idea of what the U.S. is fighting for in Afghanistan now that Osama bin Laden is dead, while 42 percent say the opposite. In September of 2011, 50 percent of Americans said they had a clear picture of U.S. goals in Afghanistan and 43 percent said they did not. 
 
 Among those who said they did have a clear idea of what the U.S. is fighting for in Afghanistan, 35 percent cited combating terrorism, 16 percent said stabilizing the country, 12 percent pointed to preventing the Taliban from taking control, and 9 percent said oil and gas. 
 
 In a interview that aired Monday on "CBS This Morning," General John Allen, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, argued that the mission in Afghanistan remains "essential" and that Al Qaeda "remains a virulent organization" there. 
 
 "We don't want the Taliban to put down roots, or the al Qaeda to put down roots in Afghanistan that can facilitate Afghanistan becoming - once again - a launching pad for international terrorism," Allen told CBS' Charlie Rose. 
 
 He said that even in light of the recent tragedy, the U.S.-Afghan relationship was "not broken." 
 
 "I worry that the complications from these recent events can distract us from the larger strategic imperative of this campaign," Allen said. "We have seen that while the relationship may have been bruised in these events, the relationship has not been broken." 
 
 This poll was conducted by telephone from March 21-25, 2012 among 986 adults nationwide. Phone numbers were dialed from samples of both standard land-line and cell phones. The error due to sampling for results based on the entire sample could be plus or minus three percentage points. The error for subgroups may be higher. This poll release conforms to the Standards of Disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls. ||||| Confidence in the U.S. system of government has dropped to a new low in more than 35 years, with public attitudes burdened by continued economic discontent, soaring gasoline prices, record opposition to the war in Afghanistan -- and a letdown in hopes for political progress after a bout of bipartisanship last fall. 
 
 Only 26 percent of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say they're optimistic about "our system of government and how well it works," down 7 points since October to the fewest in surveys dating to 1974. Almost as many, 23 percent, are pessimistic, the closest these measures ever have come. The rest, a record high, are "uncertain" about the system. 
 
 The causes are many. Despite a significant advance, more than half still say the economy has not yet begun to recover. And there's trouble at the pump: Seventy-one percent in this poll, produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, report financial hardship as a result of rising gas prices. Forty-four percent call it a "serious" hardship. 
 
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 WAR -- On an equally critical front in terms of potential political impact, just 31 percent now say the war in Afghanistan has been worth fighting, a new low. Sixty-four percent call it not worth fighting, and 49 percent feel that way "strongly," both record highs in ABC/Post polls. 
 
 Two-to-one opposition for the first time puts public criticism of the war in Afghanistan at the level seen for the war in Iraq. Such views had a devastating impact on President George W. Bush, the least popular second-term president in polls since the Truman presidency. And there's danger ahead; fighting in Afghanistan, now in its winter lull, is expected to intensify come summer. 
 
 Indeed, with Gen. David Petraeus set to testify on Capitol Hill this week, a broad and bipartisan 73 percent of Americans say the United States should withdraw a substantial number of its combat forces from Afghanistan this summer. But just 39 percent think it will. (ABC News reported Monday that field commanders in fact are asking for more troops, and a senior official called a sizable reduction unlikely despite the administration's July 11 date for a drawdown to begin.) 
 
 POLITICS -- In politics, many Americans appear to regard President Obama and the Republicans in Congress as a choice between a rock and a hard place. 
 
 On one hand, 55 percent disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy and budget deficit alike. On the other, Republicans have lost ground in public trust to deal with both issues, now trailing Obama by 12- and 9-point margins, respectively. 
 
 Preference for the Republicans on both those issues has declined by 11 points since December, a comedown from the sentiment that lifted the party to its midterm success. More Americans now see the GOP as taking the stronger leadership role in Washington; the results on trust show how that position can carry a price 
 
 The drop in trust to handle the economy has occurred chiefly among independents, now drawing away from the GOP after rallying to its side. 
 
 As recently as January, 42 percent of independents preferred the Republicans in Congress over Obama to handle the economy. Today just 29 percent say the same, and there's been a rise in the number who volunteer that they don't trust either side. 
 
 BUDGET -- Perceived non-cooperation on the budget deficit is one problem for the Republicans in Congress. Seventy-one percent say the GOP is not willing enough to compromise with Obama on the deficit; that even includes 42 percent of Republicans. Fifty-two percent overall also say Obama isn't willing enough to compromise -- still a majority, but a substantially smaller one. (Indeed, 30 percent call Obama "too willing" to make peace; half as many say that about the GOP.) 
 
 It follows that on another measure, the public by a 14-point margin says it's more apt to hold the Republicans than Obama responsible if the budget impasse forces a partial government shutdown. (Then again, three in 10 also say a partial shutdown would be a good thing.) 
 
 There's a close division on another basic element of the debate: By 45-41 percent, Americans split on whether large reductions in the budget would do more to cut jobs or create them. 
 
 The public also divides essentially evenly, 43-42 percent, on another measure -- which side, Obama or the Republicans, they trust more to find the right balance between keeping government spending that is needed, and cutting spending that's not needed. 
 
 Most Americans take the middle ground in deficit-reduction: A substantial 64 percent say the best way to trim the deficit is with a combination of spending cuts and tax increases, rather than just cutting spending (31 percent, down 5 points from December) or only raising taxes (3 percent). 
 
 OBAMA -- Obama, in all, is holding up fairly well. His job approval rating stands at 51 percent, with 45 percent disapproving -- probably about as good as it can get in this kind of economy. The president's rating exactly matches his average in more than a dozen ABC/Post polls since December 2009, when the first bloom of his presidency faded. 
 
 In addition to his advantage over the Republicans in trust to handle the economy (12 points) and the deficit (9 points), Obama holds a 7-point edge in trust to handle "protecting the rights of working people," a potential area of differentiation given the controversy over the bargaining rights of unionized state employees. 
 
 He also leads the Republicans on two empathy measures: by 12 points in better understanding the economic problems people in the country are having, and by a scant 5 points in better representing "your own personal values." 
 
 There are still substantial negatives for the president. In addition to his 55 percent disapproval on the economy and the deficit, just 28 percent of Americans say they think the economic stimulus package actually helped the economy, the fewest to say so since June 2009. It's a central and sharp criticism of a president elected above all to turn the economy around. 
 
 CONGRESS/GOP -- Congress overall, meanwhile, is laboring under just a 27 percent approval rating; it's received less than 30 percent approval continuously since July 2008, its longest run that low in polling data since 1974. 
 
 For their part, the Republicans, as noted, are seen as having a stronger leadership role in Washington, at 46 percent to Obama's 39 percent. That compares with as essentially even split in December. It's much weaker than the leadership roles ascribed to congressional Democrats over Bush in early 2007, or to congressional Republicans over Bill Clinton in 1995; that may be because the out-party in those cases won both houses of Congress, not just one. 
 
 TWO KAHUNAS -- Ultimately, the big kahuna in U.S. politics long has been the economy, and as noted, more than half of Americans, 53 percent, say it's not yet begun to recover; 46 percent think recovery has begun. While that's not great, it's better than it's been: The number who see economic improvement has risen by 12 points since October. 
 
 People who think the economy is improving are 20 points more apt than those who don't to express optimism about the country's system of government. That suggests that further perceived economic improvement would do much to ease the public's long-running snit. 
 
 But there are two clear risks: One, the pain of gas prices. And two, simmering discontent with the war in Afghanistan. The irony for Obama would be to turn the corner on the economy, just as unhappiness with the war reaches full boil. 
 
 METHODOLOGY -- This ABC News/Washington Post poll was conducted by telephone March 10-13, 2011, among a random national sample of 1,005 adults, including landline and cell-phone-only respondents. Results have a margin of sampling error of 3.5 points. 
 
 The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates of New York, N.Y, with sampling, data collection and tabulation by TNS of Horsham, Pa.
– American support for the war in Afghanistan has reached an all-time low, according to the latest New York Times/CBS poll. Some 69% of those polled believe the US shouldn't be fighting in Afghanistan, up from 53% just four months ago. Support has plunged among both Democrats and Republicans, with 68% of Democrats and 60% of Republicans saying the war is going somewhat or very badly, according to the poll, which is consistent with several other recent surveys. NATO plans to hand over security to Afghan forces by the end of 2014. But 47% of those polled want the US to leave the country ahead of schedule, and only 17% believe the US should stay for as long as it takes to stabilize the country. A military expert at the Brookings Institution blames the poll numbers on a lack of awareness of the US policy of slowly turning parts of the country over to Afghan forces. "The overall image of this war is of US troops mired in quicksand and getting blown up, and arbitrarily waiting until 2014 to come home," he says. "Of course you’d be against it."