Public confidence in the US military hits lowest point in two decades – with only 60% of Americans saying they have a ‘great deal’ of confidence in the armed forces, new survey finds

Public confidence in the US military has reached its lowest point in 25 years with 40 percent of Americans now saying they don’t have much faith in the forces, a poll found.

The survey said only 60 percent of people have ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in the military. 

It’s the lowest it’s been since 1997, according to Gallup, which conducted the poll.

A massive slump in the confidence of Republicans has contributed to the national decline. Just 68 percent of GOP supporters answered positively, compared with 91 percent three years ago.

For Democrats, 62 percent said they had confidence, compared with 68 percent last year.

The survey said only 60 percent of people have ‘a great deal’ or ‘quite a lot’ of confidence in the military. It’s the lowest it’s been since 1997, according to Gallup

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Confidence dipped ‘following the poorly executed exit from Afghanistan’, a report by Gallup said. Pictured: Hundreds of people gather near a U.S. Air Force C-17 transport plane at the perimeter of the international airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 16, 2021

A Gallup report announcing the findings said: ‘At 60%, confidence in the military was last this low in 1997, and it hasn’t been lower since 1988, when 58% were confident. 

‘From the late 1970s to the early 1980s — during the Cold War and amid threats to U.S. power, including the Iran hostage crisis — between 50% and 58% of Americans were confident in the military.

‘Confidence generally improved during Ronald Reagan’s presidency in the 1980s.

‘It then surged after the Gulf War victory (to a record-high 85% in 1991) and again after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

‘Confidence generally held above 70% for the next two decades, until dipping to 69% in 2021 and declining further since then, following the poorly executed exit from Afghanistan.’

A US Marine grabbing an infant over a fence of barbed wire during an evacuation at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul on August 19, 2021. The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan contributed to the decline in confidence in the US military

In June, the State Department quietly released a 87-page report condemning the Biden administration’s failure to prepare for the Afghanistan’s rapid collapse at the hands of the Taliban in 2021

The US withdrawal from Afghanistan concluded in August 2021 with a chaotic operation which included the deaths of 13 U.S. service members and hundreds of Afghan civilians.

In June, the State Department quietly released a 87-page report condemning the Biden administration’s failure to prepare for the Afghanistan’s rapid collapse at the hands of the Taliban in 2021. The investigation found serious pitfalls in leadership and questions about who was in charge before and during the mayhem.

Gallup added: ‘Now that the U.S. has completely withdrawn from both Iraq and Afghanistan, the two most significant military legacies of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S., confidence in the military has continued to decline among the public. 

‘The declines this year were across all party identification groups, with Republicans remaining the most likely to express confidence and independents becoming the least likely.’