Good news

The Afghans are growing increasingly optimistic about the future of their country and approving of its current political direction. According to a poll conducted by Chaney Research, AC Nielsen India Org-Marg and the Afghan Media Resource Center for the Asia Foundation, President Hamid Karzai remains popular in Afghanistan, enjoying favorable opinion of 62% of those polled. The interim government's performance gets a tick of approval from 57% of Afghans. In other results from the same poll, 64% of Afghans believe that their country is moving in the right direction (versus only 11% who think Afghanistan is moving in the wrong direction). More significantly, two-thirds of those polled support the United States, and only 11% still favor the Taliban. Eighty-one percent plan to vote in the coming elections, although a majority express concerns whether the poll will be completely fair.