Concern over Afghanistan's downward spiral has risen another notch, amid reports of a draft US intelligence assessment detailing its slide into corruption, drugs, and insurgent violence.
The New York Times says the draft National Intelligence Estimate casts doubts on the ability of Afghan President Hamid Karzai to stem the resurgence of the Taliban.
A spokesman for the Director of National Intelligence would not acknowledge the existence of an NIE on Afghanistan.
But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she expects to be briefed soon on the classified assessment, which represents the consensus view of 16 US intelligence agencies.
Military commanders have warned a political solution is needed, but that corruption and a flourishing narcotics trade are undermining public support for the central government.
The draft intelligence estimate concludes that the breakdown in central authority in Afghanistan has been accelerated by rampant corruption within the Karzai government and by increasingly sophisticated insurgent attacks from safe havens in Pakistan.
