Voters aren’t brimming with confidence that the United States can win the war in Afghanistan, but, despite news reports of a worsening situation there, support for a continued U.S. military presence in the country is unchanged.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of voters believe it is possible for the United States to win the eight-year-old war in Afghanistan. Twenty-nine percent (29%) do not think a U.S. victory is possible there, and another 25% aren’t sure.

But 52% of voters continue to believe that no firm timetable should be set for the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. That number is unchanged from a survey at the beginning of September.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of men say America can win the war in Afghanistan. Women are evenly divided.

Sixty percent (60%) of Republicans say a U.S. victory is possible, a view shared by just 35% of Democrats and 41% of voters not affiliated with either party.

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Twenty-two percent (22%) of voters nationwide say all U.S. troops should be brought home from Afghanistan immediately, and another 12% say a firm timetable should be established to bring the troops home within a year. These numbers, too, are virtually the same as those six weeks ago.

Potentially troubling for President Obama is that members of his own party are increasingly more supportive of a troop withdrawal. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of Democrats now say all troops in Afghanistan should be brought home immediately, up eight points from early September. This compares with just nine percent (9%) of Republicans and 17% of unaffiliateds.

Most Republicans and unaffiliated voters see no need for setting a timetable for withdrawal, but just 32% of Democrats agree. That’s up from 27% in the earlier survey.

But only 33% of all voters believe it is even somewhat likely that U.S. combat troops will be removed from Afghanistan by the end of Obama’s first term.

The president has been meeting with his top national security advisers to consider a request for more troops from General Stanley McChrystal, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan. Americans are closely divided over whether the United States should send more troops to fight the war in Afghanistan. Thirty-seven percent (37%) say yes to sending more troops, while 40% say no. Twenty-three percent (23%) are not sure.

Thirty-eight percent (38%) of voters now rate the president’s handling of the situation in Afghanistan as good or excellent. Thirty-three percent (33%) say he is doing a poor job, up nine points from August.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of voters say they expect the war in Afghanistan to get worse in the next six months, up from 42% in June.

Voters are clearly following developments in Afghanistan. Eighty-eight percent (88%) say they are following recent news stories about the situation there at least somewhat closely, with 46% following very closely. Just one percent (1%) say they are not following the news about Afghanistan at all.

President George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001 because the country was offering a safe haven to the radical Islamic al-Qaeda terrorists responsible for the attacks on the United States on September 11 of that year. Forty-nine percent (49%) of Americans believe that most of their fellow countrymen have already forgotten the impact of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in which 3,000 died.

Obama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," with the award committee citing his push for nuclear disarmament and his outreach to the Muslim world. But 35% of voters believe that America’s relationship with the Muslim world will be worse one year from now than it is today.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of Americans say it is the responsibility of American Muslims to speak out against terrorist attacks on the United States.

Fifty-eight percent (58%) of Americans now believe that politics plays a role in the awarding of the Nobel Prize. That's an 18-point jump from a year ago.

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