Poll shows new low for Afghanistan war backing

With US deaths in Afghanistan hitting new highs for two months in a row and American troop strength likely headed for an all-time high as well, public support for the war has dropped to a new low, says a poll out today.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey says that 57 percent of respondents oppose the war, while 42 percent support it. The "against" number is up from 54 percent in early August, the only other time it has been above 52 percent.

Also according to the poll, 62 percent of Americans believe the US is losing the war, though 59 percent believe it can still win.

President Obama is to receive on Wednesday the report from General Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan, who is laying the groundwork for a request for more forces -- on top of the 21,000 additional that Obama already dispatched this year.

That would present the president with a politically fraught decision at the same time he is trying to get a health care bill passed and to make sure an economic recovery takes hold.

The new poll, conducted Friday through Monday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.