Global General

US toll reaches 1,000 deaths in Afghanistan war

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-05-29 14:12

In this Nov. 19, 2001 file photo, Northern Alliance soldiers watch as US air strikes pound Taliban positions in Kunduz province near the townof Khanabad, Afghanistan. [Agencies]

As casualties rise, the slide in overall support for the war may accelerate.

A majority of Americans -- 52 percent -- say the war is not worth the cost. The negative assessment in a new Washington Post-ABC News poll followed a brief rise in support for the war after Obama refocused the US war plan last year.

Those figures could change dramatically depending on the outcome of the coming operation in Kandahar, the biggest city in the south, with about a half million people. US commanders believe Kandahar is the key to the ethnic Pashtun south, the main theater in the war.

The operation will pose the greatest test for the US counterinsurgency strategy, which focuses on protecting civilians, bolstering the Afghan government and rushing in economic development to win public support. It is also expected to lead to a spike in US casualties, even though the military says the campaign will include very little traditional combat.