Obama firm on Afghan timetable The White House insisted on Monday that there would be no change to its strategy in Afghanistan, after the massacre of Afghan civilians by a US soldier delivered the latest body-blow to the Obama administration's plans for the country. Facing a growing backlash at home and in Afghanistan about the continued presence of US and Nato forces, President Barack Obama said the military footprint would be reduced "progressively" but that the strategy of handing security responsibility to Afghan forces remained on track. US military investigators ojn Monday questioned a staff sergeant who has been accused of going on a weekend shooting spree that killed 16 Afghan civilians, including nine children. The Pentagon refused to name the soldier but said he was a sniper who had done three tours of duty in Iraq. The Afghan parliament demanded the soldier be put on trial in Afghanistan. The killings have triggered a new spike in anti-western sentiment in Afghanistan just weeks after protests erupted following the discovery of burnt copies of the Koran at a US base. "I don't believe this incident will change the timetable of a strategy that was designed and implemented to allow for the withdrawal of US forces, to allow for the transfer of lead security over to the Afghans," said Jay Carney, White House spokesman. Mr Obama rejected comparisons with the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam war in 1968, saying this was the act of a "lone gunman." Two polls underlined weakening support for the war in the US and UK. According to a Washington Post-ABC poll, 60 per cent of Americans said the war had not been worth the cost in lives or money. In the UK, a poll by ComRes for ITV found that 73 per cent of Britons thought the war unwinnable. Support for the war also seems to be ebbing on the political right in the US, with Rick Santorum, the Republican presidential candidate, saying the US might need "to get out sooner" from Afghanistan. The incident comes as other US partners in Afghanistan are beginning to outline their plans for ending operations. David Cameron, the British prime minister who begins a visit to Washington today, is looking for UK troops to pull back from their lead combat role in Afghanistan by mid-2013, leading to a gradual withdrawal by the end of 2014. He will insist withdrawal is carried out in lock-step with the US.