US fears "war will fail" in Afghanistan

       The war against Afghanistan's Taliban is likely to fail without additional forces and a new strategy,the top US and Nato commander said as President Barack Obama faces resistance at home to sending more troops.
       Army General Stanley McChrystal, in a confidential assessment, said failure to gain the initiative and reverse "insurgent momentum" in the near term risked an outcome where "defeating the insurgency is no longer possible".
       A copy of his 66-page assessment was obtained by the Washington Post and published on its website with some parts removed at the request of the government for security reasons.
       Gen McChrystal is expected to ask for a troop increase in the coming weeks to stem gains by a resurgent Taliban.
       The assessment stresses the need to engage with the Afghan people using a "new strategy" that requires a "dramatically" different approach to the war.
       "Inadequate resources will likely result in failure. However, without a new strategy, the mission should not be resourced," Gen McChrystal is quoted as saying in the report.
       Gen McChrystal has already drawn up his request for more troops, which some officials expect will include roughly 30,000 new combat troops and trainers,but he has yet to submit it to Washington for consideration. The Pentagon says it is discussing how he will submit it.
       A request for more troops faces resistance from the Democratic Party,which controls Congress, and opinion polls show Americans are turning against the nearly eight-year-old war.
       Mr Obama has said that he wanted to wait to determine the proper strategy for US forces in Afghanistan before considering whether more troops should be sent there.
       "I just want to make sure that everybody understands that you don't make decisions about resources before you have the strategy ready," he said.
       In his assessment, Gen McChrystal painted a grim picture of the war, saying "the overall situation is deteriorating".
       He called for a "revolutionary" shift in strategy which puts as much emphasis on gaining the support of Afghans as it does on killing insurgents.
       "The objective is the will of the people,our conventional warfare culture is part of the problem, the Afghans must ultimately defeat the insurgency," he wrote.
       The war in Afghanistan is now at its deadliest. Gen McChrystal's assessment said militants had control over entire sections of the country, although it was difficult to say how much because of the limited presence of Nato troops.
       He also strongly criticised the Afghan government as having lost the faith of the country's people.
       "The weakness of state institutions,malign actions of power-brokers, widespread corruption and abuse of power by various officials, and Isaf's own errors,have given Afghans little reason to support their government," Gen McChrystal said, referring to the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf).
       Spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Tadd Sholtis said that while the assessment made clear that Gen McChrystal does not believe he can defeat Afghanistan's insurgency without additional troops,he could carry out a mission with different goals if ordered to by Mr Obama.
       "The assessment is based on his understanding of the mission ... If there's a change in strategy, then the resources piece changes."
       The number of US troops in Afghanistan has almost doubled this year from 32,000 to 62,000 and is expected to grow by another 6,000 by the year's end. There are also 40,000 troops from other nations,mainly Nato allies.
       Fifty-eight percent of Americans now oppose the Afghan war while 39% support it, according to a recent CNN/Opinion Research poll.
       Mr Obama's critics in Congress,including his 2008 Republican presidential opponent Senator John McCain, have urged the administration to approve the deployment of more troops immediately,saying any delay puts the lives of troops already in Afghanistan at greater risk.
       Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said on Sunday his party would support a troop increase if needed,adding he was troubled by the delay in the decision-making.
       "We think the time for decision is now," Mr McConnell said.