Polling Afghan opinion

The New York Times has this piece on this year’s poll of Afghan public opinion taken by the Asia Foundation in Kabul.  The trends revealed that more Afghans believe that their country is moving in the right direction, and more are aware of rebuilding projects in their areas.  Some other results:

The survey also found overwhelming Afghan support for the Karzai government’s efforts at reconciliation with the Taliban and other armed opposition groups. Eighty-three percent favor the government’s attempts to put an end to the fighting through negotiation, up from 71 percent last year. This strong desire for peace talks is perhaps a reflection of an old Afghan proverb: “Blood cannot be cleaned by blood.”

and

Finally, 81 percent of the Afghans surveyed say they continue to agree with the democratic principle of equal rights for all groups to political participation and representation, including gender equality and equal educational opportunities for women.