Majority Americans say U.S. mission in Afghanistan fails: poll

A majority of Americans say the U.S. military mission has failed in Afghanistan, and U.S. President Barack Obama's global war of "targeted killings" by drones has raised deep concern among the U.S. public, a latest poll showed.

According to a national survey by the Pew Research Center in late May, 56 percent of Americans say the United States has mostly failed in achieving its goals in Afghanistan, while 36 percent say the U.S. mission has mostly succeeded.

In terms of prospects for long-term stability in Afghanistan, only 29 percent say that Afghanistan will remain stable in the wake of the departure of U.S. forces from the country, compared with 38 percent in 2011.

Obama had previously planned to reduce the current level of 9, 800 U.S. troops in Afghanistan to around 5,500 by the end of 2015 and withdraw all troops by the end of 2016 when his presidency comes to an end.

However, during the visit of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to Washington in March, Obama announced that no reduction of the current 9,800 U.S. troops stationed in Afghanistan would occur through the end of 2015.

Meanwhile, 80 percent of Americans say they are at least somewhat concerned that U.S. drone strikes endanger the lives of innocent civilians.

The drone war, initiated in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks by former U.S. President George W. Bush, continues to be one of the Obama administration's trump cards.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ), a British non-profit, the Obama administration conducted its first drone strikes shortly after Obama began its presidency in 2009. Although there were reports of alleged "militants" killed, said the group, at least 14 civilians were also killed that day.

Since the U.S. government keeps almost all information relevant to its drone attacks classified, the number of civilian casualties was unknown to the public.

Despite the secrecy that shrouds the U.S. drone program, BIJ estimated, after confirming with local media, that in Pakistan alone, between 423 and 962 civilians, including 172 to 207 children, have been killed.

In an unprecedented move in April, Obama apologized to families of two hostages held by the extremist group Islamic State who were killed in a January counterterrorism operation.

Calling the death of Warren Weinstein, an American, and Giovanni Lo Porto, an Italian, "painful", Obama said in his televised speech that he profoundly regretted what happened, promising an investigation into the twin death of the hostages.

"One of the things that sets America apart from many other nations, one of the things that makes us exceptional is our willingness to confront squarely our imperfections and to learn from our mistakes."

However, six and half years into his presidency, Obama has never confronted with the administration's mistakes with an apology before, and a coalition of human and civil rights groups in May demanded the Obama administration not to discriminate against other alleged civilian victims of drone attacks.

"We write to urge your administration to adopt the same approach to all other U.S. counterterrorism strikes in which civilians have been injured or killed - regardless of their nationalities," said an open letter the coalition. Endite