Obama battered by criticism as anniversary approaches

"But the criticism that stings the most has come from some of the very people who helped propel Obama to power.

"Prominent voices on the left of the Democratic party have grown increasingly concerned at what they see as too little change people can believe in, particularly on issues liberal activists are passionate about, such as healthcare legislation and America's wars.

"Some of the most strident criticism has come from the former Democratic party chairman Howard Dean, who denounced the Senate's healthcare bill as "not worth passing" after Obama urged it to drop plans for a government-run insurance option in order to win votes in Congress.

"Dean denounced it as a gift to private insurance firms and warned that the proposed bill 'would do more harm than good to the future of America'.

"'No one will think this is healthcare reform. This is not even insurance reform,' Dean said.

"Liberals are also fired up about Obama's decision to go along with the US military's demand for tens of thousands more troops to fight the Taliban. Several members of Congress who were solid supporters of the president openly challenged him over the troop increase. Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House of Representatives and a strong Obama loyalist, said the president still had to 'make his case' before she would throw her support behind it.

"Outside the Democratic party, Michael Moore, the film-maker and Obama cheerleader, warned the president that he had become the 'new war president'."