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Americans won't back long Afghan war: Gates
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said U.S.-led forces must gain ground against insurgents in Afghanistan by next summer to avoid a public perception the war is unwinnable, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday. While noting that the Taliban militants would not be defeated within a year, Gates told the newspaper it was critical that the U.S. military and its allies show they were making progress in the Asian nation. "After the Iraq (war) experience, nobody is prepared to have a long slog where it is not apparent we are making headway," Gates said in an interview. "The troops are tired. The American people are pretty tired," he said.

The U.S. public's souring attitude toward the war in Iraq, where more than 4,300 U.S. troops have been killed since 2003, cut popular support for former President George W. Bush and is cited by some as a factor for his party's huge losses in the 2008 election.
The vicious behaviour of the press had, of course, nothing to do with it, according to the same some.
The Obama administration has shifted its strategy to make the battle in Afghanistan a higher priority. Washington is sending 21,000 more troops to Afghanistan in a bid to counter the Taliban, who now control a large swath of territory, and it has named a new commander to lead the NATO-backed effort.
Posted by: Fred 2009-07-20
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=274672