Obama urged to speak more on Afghan war

WASHINGTON, Sept. 4 (UPI) -- Some members of Congress are pressuring the White House to work harder to rally flagging public support for the war in Afghanistan, observers say.

With confrontations with militants and casualties mounting, recent polls indicate the majority of Americans surveyed oppose the war for the first time since it began eight years ago.

A number of lawmakers say President Barack Obama must be more forceful in making the case for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, and must do so more often, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

"The president, unfortunately, because of the crush of everything else, hasn't talked about Afghanistan all that much," Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., told the Journal. "There's so much on his plate that it has an adverse impact on his ability to spend enough time on Afghanistan."

Obama recently discussed Afghanistan during speech to a Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Phoenix when he devoted less than three minutes of his nearly 30-minute address to the conflict.

White House officials said Obama didn't plan to address the Afghan war in a major speech anytime soon. Administration spokesman Tommy Vietor said the "president talks about Afghanistan all the time."

"There are a lot of critical issues the president deals with every day, and a lot of critical issues he talks about," Vietor said. "Afghanistan is on the top of his list."