The Bush administration suffered a string of setbacks over Iraq on Thursday ranging from a rebuff for its proposals on a UN role from UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to an opinion poll showing Americans thought the war had not been worth it.
Compounding Washington's problems, the CIA official directing the weapons search in Iraq reported to US lawmakers that no chemical or biological arms -- the main reason cited for the US-led invasion in March -- had yet been found.
In Baghdad, the top US general in the country, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, said guerrilla attacks had become more lethal and casualties would continue rising.
He was speaking after three US soldiers died in one day, taking the toll of US soldiers killed in action since May 1 -- when President George W. Bush declared major combat over -- to 84.
Bush is trying to garner foreign help in running Iraq by obtaining a new UN resolution, but UN officials and diplomats reported that Annan made clear on Thursday the world body could not play a proper political role in Iraq under terms Washington wanted.
While not refusing outright to participate in the political process, Annan told ambassadors at a Security Council lunch that the new US-drafted resolution envisaged an impossible UN role.
It was one of the few times during his five years as secretary-general Annan had opposed the US so bluntly on a crucial issue.
The US had tacit support for the resolution from a majority of Security Council members, although many were skeptical. But Annan's comments, diplomats said, might make it impossible for the 15-member body to support the measure.
"What we need is a coherent and workable mandate," a senior UN official said. "What we do not want is an unimplementable mandate reached on the basis of a false consensus in the council."
In his remarks to reporters, Annan said the US draft had not followed his recommendation of setting up an interim Iraqi government before a constitution was written and new elections were held.
A CBS News/New York Times poll released on Thursday found that most Americans -- 53 percent -- believed the Iraq war was not worth it and that Bush's approval ratings were near a record low for his presidency.
Bush's overall job approval rating was just above 50 percent, almost back to the level before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and down sharply from his 89 percent approval rating after the attacks, the poll said.
The size and timing of the poll and the margin of error were not immediately available. More details were expected later on Thursday.
Lieutenant General Sanchez told a news conference the US-led forces in Iraq should expect more casualties.
"The enemy has evolved. It is a little bit more lethal, little bit more complex, little bit more sophisticated and in some cases a little bit more tenacious," he said.
"As long as we are here, the coalition needs to be prepared to take casualties. We should not be surprised if one of these days we wake up to find there's been a major firefight or a major terrorist attack."
On Wednesday, a 4th Infantry Division soldier was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack near the town of Samarra; a female soldier from the same division died in a remote-control bomb attack near Tikrit, and in Baghdad a soldier was shot and killed while patrolling the Mansur neighborhood.
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