Nov. 8 (Bloomberg) -- British support for the war in Afghanistan has declined as the number of combat deaths exceeded 200 and the nation’s top military commander said Prime Minister Gordon Brown hasn’t done enough to make a case for fighting.

“I do think it is incredibly important that we do better at describing to people the success that we are having, to demonstrate that over the long term this is doable,” Jock Stirrup, chief of the defense staff, told the British Broadcasting Corp.’s ‘Andrew Marr’ program today. “I don’t think we have been nearly good enough.”

Twenty-one percent of adults support the war in Afghanistan, down from 28 percent in August, according to a survey released today by YouGov Plc. A separate ComRes Ltd. survey showed 64 percent of voters say the war is “un- winnable” and 63 percent want troops withdrawn. No margin of error was given.

The Ministry of Defence in London today announced the deaths of two more British soldiers in Afghanistan, brining the total U.K. personnel to have died while serving there top 232.

“What we see is the downside and it is a very, very painful downside; tragic losses, bereaved families back home that are having to cope with that loss, people who are injured and having to deal with a complete change in their life,” Stirrup told the BBC. “But, out there on the ground, talk to the people who are doing it on the ground and they will tell you that they are making real progress. We have got to do much better at describing their progress. It’s painful, it’s slow and it’s halting, but it is in the right direction.”

Worst Recession

With an election less than seven months away, Brown’s Labour government is on the defensive about its strategy in Afghanistan. The opposition Conservative Party has led in polls for more than two years as the U.K. economy slipped into its worst recession on record and Brown deployed more troops.

Britain has about 9,500 personnel in Afghanistan, the second-largest contingent behind the U.S., and is considering whether to send more to support American troops.

U.K. Defense Secretary Bob Ainsworth called on President Barack Obama to make a decision on whether to back U.S. General Stanley McChrystal’s call for 40,000 more U.S. soldiers in the nation.

“I don’t criticize the America authorities for wanting to go into great detail, but we do need a decision,” Ainsworth said in an interview with the Sunday Times. “I hoped that we would have got to a decision before now.”

‘Gradual Process’

Stirrup said U.S. estimates of when coalition troops will hand over security to Afghan forces are “a little optimistic.”

McChrystal estimates “it will not be before 2013,” Stirrup told the BBC. “That’s a little optimistic. I’d say about 2014. Of course, it’ll be a gradual process. It won’t be one big step change.”

William Hague, the Conservative lawmaker who speaks on foreign affairs, said the government must make a more convincing case for why troops must remain in the region. His party, if it wins the election due no later than June 2010, would make regular reports to Parliament about the war, he said.

“Public support would not be maintained for a campaign of that length where we cannot show military and political success,” Hague said in a BBC interview. “It’s a very difficult situation. I would be kidding you if I were saying we were not worried about it.”

Brown along with Conservative Leader David Cameron, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and former Prime Minister Tony Blair today attended the annual memorial service for soldiers who died in battle at the Cenotaph memorial near Parliament.

A British soldier from the 4th Battalion The Rifles was killed today by an explosion near Sangin, central Helmand Province, the Ministry of Defence said in an e-mailed statement today. A member off the regiment’s 2nd Battalion died yesterday in a blast in the same area, the ministry said.

After a rogue policeman in Afghanistan murdered five British soldiers last week, Brown said Britain’s role in the fighting now is as important as its work in the two world wars of the 20th century.

“Our children will learn of the heroism of today’s men and women fighting in Afghanistan, protecting our nation and the rest of the world from the threat of global terrorism,” Brown said in a speech on Nov. 6.

Obama is weighing whether to add to the 68,000 U.S. soldiers due to be serving there at the end of this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Svenja O’Donnell in London at sodonnell@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 8, 2009 12:07 EST