[Dev-C++] nested loop

[<Tre...@ao...>]

I have to write a program that uses a nested while loop in order to display 
lines of asterisks from 9 to 1.  Here is the code.....can anyone help me?  I 
don't understand how to make this work.
#include<iostream>

int main()
{
    int asterisk = 9;
    int counter = 9;
    char ast = '*';

    asterisk = (asterisk * ast);

    while (counter > 0)
    {
        cout << asterisk << endl;
        counter = counter - 1;
        asterisk = asterisk - ast;
        while (asterisk > 0)
        {
            cout << "*" << "" << endl;
        }
    }

return 0;
}