WASHINGTON - The United States needs to shore up public support among the people of Afghanistan as it faces its "last best chance" to turn the tide in the war effort, Rep. Earl Pomeroy said Friday.

The North Dakota Democrat, who returned from a six-day trip to Afghanistan and Africa with other U.S. House members, said military leaders stressed the need to regain the confidence of the Afghanistan people so they can bolster security in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

"Key emphasis needs to be made on shoring up public support with the Afghan people," Pomeroy said in a conference call with reporters. "It's their country. It's going to take their primary, principled effort to turn this thing around."

"The Taliban and al-Qaida have made progress in their fight for public support. I do not believe it's too late to win back the support and confidence of the American people, but realistically this is our last best chance. The present team of leaders will not have American support beyond this effort," Pomeroy said.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Thursday the war in Afghanistan is worth fighting and said efforts by President Barack Obama, including ordering an additional 21,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, should be given a chance to succeed. Gates and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen declined to discuss any recommendations contained in a new review of Afghanistan sent this week to them and the president.

A separate recommendation on troop increases is expected from the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who wrote the new review, but how many troops McChrystal wants is unclear. There could be as many as 20,000, but in recent days military officials have predicted it will be far less, closer to or fewer than 10,000.

Pomeroy said McChrystal did not discuss potential troop levels in his meeting with the congressional delegation but spoke of the need for more assistance in training Afghans to take a larger responsibility for their country's security.

"I think he made clear to us that the present training pace is not sufficient for purposes of getting more Afghans involved in the business of providing for their security," Pomeroy said.

"We want to train up more police, we want to train up more soldiers quickly. And we want to do it competently so that the people we're putting out at the end of this training aren't just 'shake and bake' soldiers but people truly ready to provide the services to the Afghan people improving their security."

Any additional funding approved by Congress likely will be spent to train Afghan army, police and other security forces to take over the fight against the Taliban, and on equipment to protect U.S. troops from attacks and homemade bombs known as IEDs.

Pomeroy said "meaningful changes" to the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan have been made in recent months but it's too early to know whether it will alter the direction of the war. He said the U.S. needs to establish reasonable benchmarks so the both governments can determine whether progress is being made.

By the end of the year, an estimated 68,000 troops will be in Afghanistan, 21,000 of which were ordered there by Obama last spring. Military commanders and State Department officials on the ground have said many more are needed to get the job done.

Fifty-one U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in August, making it the bloodiest month for American forces there since the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001.