KABUL: The US mission in Afghanistan will "likely

result in failure" unless troops are increased within a year, the top general there has said in a report.

General Stanley

McChrystal made his

assessment in a copy

of a confidential report obtained by the Washington Post.

He recently called for a revised military strategy in Afghanistan, suggesting the current one is failing.

More than 30,000 extra US troops have been sent to Afghanistan since

May — almost doubling the US contingent. The number of US troops in Afghanistan is already

set to rise to 68,000 by the end of the year.

But in his latest assessment, General McChrystal is quoted by the

Washington Post newspaper as saying: "Failure

to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the near-term (next 12 months)... risks an

outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible."

He warned that "inadequate resources will likely result in failure".

"Additional resources are required," the general states in the summary of the report.

General McChrystal, who took over as military in commander in May, is expected to make a separate request for tens of thousands of extra forces to be deployed. He also says that training for Afghan forces needs to be speeded up.

He said that failure to provide adequate resources "also risks a longer conflict, greater casualties, higher overall costs, and ultimately, a critical loss of political support".

"Any of these risks, in turn, are likely to result in mission failure."

But General McChrystal adds that the increase in troop numbers must come in the context of a revised military strategy in the country.

He has consistently called for a strategy which makes its top priority

the protection of the Afghan people. The increase in troop numbers would provide security for the Afghan people and create a space in which good governance can

take root, General McChrystal argues.

In a blunt evaluation, he says that both the Afghan government and international forces face losing credibility among the Afghan population.

"Pre-occupied with

protection of our own forces, we have operated in a manner that distances us - physically and psychologically — from the people we seek to protect," he says. But 2009 has been the deadliest year for foreign troops in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.

A recent opinion poll showed that a narrow majority of Americans now oppose the conflict.

Last week the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of

Staff Admiral Mike

Mullen told the US Senate Armed Services Committee that more troops

might be required to tackle the mounting Taliban

insurgency.

But President Obama later said there was "no immediate decision pending" on sending more troops to Afghanistan.

"You have to get

the strategy right and

then make the determination about resources," Obama said.