Partisan divide deepens on US war in Afghanistan

Divisions between Democrats and Republicans at the US Senate continue to deepen as President Barack Obama reconsiders the future of the US role in Afghanistan.

Republican Senator John McCain warned President Obama in a TV interview on Sunday that a failure to send more troops to Afghanistan will be "an error of historic proportions."

Obama's former rival emphasized that the president had found himself caught between military commanders and Democratic lawmakers.

"I think the great danger now is a half-measure ... trying to please all ends of the political spectrum," McCain was quoted by CNN as saying.

He earlier had asked Obama to trust his top commanders who are calling for more troops to tackle the growing insurgency in Afghanistan.

The commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley Mc-Chrystal, has asked for 40-thousand more soldiers.

Democrats, however, oppose any troop surge and have introduced legislation to prohibit funding for further deployment.

Obama and his war council are busy looking for an effective military strategy in Afghanistan and will be holding a meeting on Wednesday for final decision.

The mounting number of Western soldiers coming home in body bags has sent support for the war plunging in Europe, Canada, and the United States.