Report: Afghans still skeptical of new government

Only a quarter of the key regions in Afghanistan support or even sympathize with the government in Kabul, with large swaths of the country still hesitant to swing behind the U.S.-backed authority, according to a Pentagon assessment released Wednesday. This lingering skepticism toward Afghan's government dramatizes the challenges that lie ahead for the U.S., which is expected to have 98,000 troops there by August. President Barack Obama's exit strategy depends heavily on propping up a strong central government in Afghanistan. But U.S. military and civilian officials say that won't be possible until the local population learns to trust the new authorities. In a report to Congress, the Pentagon found that much of the country is either neutral to Afghan authorities or supportive of the Taliban insurgency. Only 29 of 121 districts in Afghanistan identified as "key terrain" support or sympathize with the Kabul government, the report concluded.