Washington, D.C. ? New U.S. intelligence assessments cast doubt on President Bush’s recent claim that Taliban and al-Qaida forces in Afghanistan are “on the run.”

In fact, American and NATO troops have been unable to contain an expansion of Taliban insurgents in southern and western Afghanistan, two top U.S. intelligence officers said Wednesday. They said the insurgents increasingly are funded, armed, trained and directed by al-Qaida from its sanctuary in neighboring Pakistan.

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell described the situation in Afghanistan as “deteriorating” even though U.S. and allied forces there have roughly doubled since 2004, from about 26,000 to nearly 50,000 today.

These troops will soon be reinforced with about 2,200 Marines..

More than six years after the U.S. invaded to establish a stable central regime in Afghanistan, the Kabul government under President Hamid Karzai controls just 30 percent of the country, McConnell said. The Taliban control 10 percent to 11 percent of the country and Karzai’s government controls 30 percent to 31 percent. The majority of Afghanistan’s population and territory remains under local tribal control, he said.