White House disputes gloomy assessment

The White House Tuesday dismissed comments by Pakistan's president that US-backed coalition forces are losing the war in Afghanistan. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama, who days earlier said progress was being made in Afghanistan, disputed the assessment from Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
"I don't think that the president would agree with President Zardari's conclusions that the war is lost," Gibbs told journalists. The reaction came after Zardari said in an interview published in France's on Tuesday that the coalition is losing the war against the Taliban. "The international community, to which Pakistan belongs, is losing the war against the Taliban. This is, above all, because we have lost the battle to win hearts and minds," he said, in comments published in French by Le Monde.