Wire: Obama Urged to Rally Support for Afghan War

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4, 2009 -- Newswire services this evening reported that the White House is facing mounting pressure from lawmakers to work harder to rally flagging public support for the war in Afghanistan.

With casualties rising, the administration is struggling to persuade voters that the war can be won or is worth the human and financial costs. Afghanistan is President Barack Obama's top foreign-policy priority, but recent polls show that a majority of voters oppose the war for the first time since the conflict began eight years ago, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The Wall Street Journal noted the following details:

The politics of the war are getting trickier for key American allies as well. A junior minister in Britain's Ministry of Defense resigned Thursday, criticizing his government's strategy in Afghanistan on the eve of a major speech by Prime Minister Gordon Brown about Britain's efforts there.

In the U.S., a growing number of lawmakers say that Mr. Obama needs to make the case for Afghanistan more forcefully -- and more frequently -- than he has done to date.

Some lawmakers feel that the president hasn't spent enough time on Afghanistan.

Additionally, White House officials said there were no plans for Mr. Obama to address the Afghan war in a major speech in the near future.

Recently, Obama said "victory" in Afghanistan isn't the United States' goal.

In a factually incorrect comparison, Obama told ABC News, "I'm always worried about using the word 'victory,' because, you know, it invokes this notion of Emperor Hirohito coming down and signing a surrender to MacArthur."

Emperor Hirohito was not in attendance at the ceremony aboard USS Missouri where Japanese officials signed the surrender documents concluding World War II.

(Report from newswire sources.)

Source: Obama Urged to Rally Support for War

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