Ahead of Memorial Day, YouGov released the results of an interesting survey showing how Americans feel about U.S. involvement in foreign wars down through the years. Its 1,500 respondents were asked whether the U.S. made a mistake sending troops to fight in a selection of foreign conflicts. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the war in Vietnam saw the highest share of Americans - 48 percent - agreeing that U.S. involvement was a mistake. A further 25 percent were unsure while 28 percent still think it was right to send U.S. troops to Southeast Asia.
When it comes to more recent wars, 36 percent consider the decision to send U.S. troops to Afghanistan a mistake while 39 percent do not. Regarding the war in Iraq, 43 percent regret sending troops while 33 percent do not consider it a mistake. Strong 62 and 68 percent majorities support U.S. involvement in World War I and World War II, respectively. Interestingly, 14 percent of Americans think it was wrong to send troops to fight in the Second World War while 18 percent remain unsure about the decision.