US: Afghan situation deteriorating

The situation in Afghanistan is "deteriorating", the top US military officer has said, amid waning US public support for the war. Furthermore, the Taliban's tactics are becoming more sophisticated, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said on Sunday. "I think it is serious and it is deteriorating, and I've said that over the past couple of years - that the Taliban insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated," he said on NBC's Meet the Press programme. US combat deaths in Afghanistan have risen since Barack Obama, the US president, ordered a troop build-up to confront a resurgent Taliban, with a record 44 US soldiers killed in July. A new Washington Post-ABC News poll indicate a majority of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan is not worth fighting, and most want fewer American soldiers to be sent there. Fifty-one per cent of respondents said the war was not worth fighting, a six per cent increase in the negative column since last month.