“For our own security and for the sake of the Afghans”: how the Danish public was persuaded to support an unprecedented costly military endeavour in Afghanistan

In July 2013 when the latest national poll was made, Denmark maintained the highest level of public support among the troop-contributing nations to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF ) in Afghanistan. Nearly half the Danish population continued to support the war even though Denmark had suffered the heaviest losses per capita in NATO. Although the 43 Danish fatalities may not seem many compared to the ones suffered by the United States (2,315) and the United Kingdom (448), this number exceeds the total suffered in all other international operations conducted by the Danish armed forces since World War Two.1