(CNSNews.com) - Likening the situation in Afghanistan today to the situation in Iraq three years ago, Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.) said yesterday that the United States is losing the war in Afghanistan, but that victory is still possible.

"We now face a similar moment with respect to the war in Afghanistan," said McCain in a speech at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. "The situation in Afghanistan is nowhere near as dire as it was in Iraq just two years ago--to cite one example, civilian fatalities at their peak in Iraq were ten times higher than civilian deaths at their peak in Afghanistan last year. But the same truth that was apparent three years ago in Iraq is apparent today in Afghanistan: When you aren’t winning in this kind of war, you are losing. And, in Afghanistan today, we are not winning. Let us not shy from the truth, but let us not be paralyzed by it either."

“I know Americans are weary of war – I’m weary of it,”  said McCain. “But we must win the war in Afghanistan.”
 
McCain outlined a number of changes needed to turn the war around.

"The problem in Afghanistan today is not innate xenophobia or hostility to the West. It is our own failed policies that are the problem," he said. "We have tried to win this war without enough troops, without sufficient economic aid, without effective coordination, and without a clear strategy. The ruinous consequences should come as no surprise. If we change our policies, the situation on the ground will change, too."

McCain cited a series of statistics painting a darkening picture in Afghanistan. Only 40 percent of Afghans rate their security positively (compared with 77 percent in 2005), and only a third report having a strong presence of either U.S. or NATO forces in their areas (57 percent in 2007). Lack of security, along with corruption, are the two most common reasons Afghans say their country is moving in the wrong direction.
 
A United Nations survey released last week revealed that the nation’s civilian deaths had grown by nearly 40 percent in 2008 to 2,118, making it the highest annual death toll since the Taliban government was removed in 2001.
 
Despite the grim statistics, McCain stressed the U.S. should not be deterred in its cause.
 
“Some suggest it is time to scale back our ambitions in Afghanistan,” he said. “I disagree. I am confident victory is possible in Afghanistan.”
 
Last week, President Obama said he will send 17,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan this spring and summer, adding nearly 50 percent to the 36,000 U.S. troops already there. In a statement, the president said “the fact that we are going to responsibly draw down our forces in Iraq allows us the flexibility to increase our presence in Afghanistan.”
 
McCain said he agreed with the president’s strategy, but noted that the U.S. troops who will remain in Iraq should not be overlooked or forgotten. McCain also encouraged other nations, particularly U.S. allies in Europe, to increase their troop levels, though he said “the command structure must be unified” and said he was confident the U.S. would ultimately be the country that determines the outcome in the region.
 
Though the Afghanistan situation is seen by many as “the good war” with additional troops going mostly without protest, McCain warned that public support could wane as casualties and the cost of war increase.
 
The Arizona Republican called on the president and his own congressional colleagues not only to “keep the public informed” of the arduous task that still lies ahead, but also to focus on the ultimate goal of defeating global terrorist networks and helping stabilize Afghanistan and the surrounding region.
 
“It’s the job of leaders to inform the American people and present to them the consequences of failure, perhaps better than we have been doing,” he said. “Americans are already weary – seven years is a long time. But it’s of vital importance that we make the American people aware of what is at stake – the benefits of success and the consequences of failure.”