UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Afghanistan’s president, who addresses the U.N. General Assembly today, is urging the next American leader to send money, planes and equipment to strengthen the Afghan army.

Either Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain will be dealing with an increasingly vicious battle against a determined insurgency opposed both to Hamid Karzai’s government and to the presence of foreign troops.

“In other words, enable us to defend ourselves and to fight the bad guys,” Karzai said at the Asia Society in New York on Tuesday.

Taliban attacks have grown larger and more deadly, making 2008 the most violent year in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion that ousted the Taliban’s hard-line Islamist government.

At least 120 U.S. soldiers and 104 troops from other NATO nations have died already in 2008, both record numbers. Overall, more than 4,500 people — mostly militants — have died in insurgency-related attacks this year.