President's timeline too slow to decide on Afghanistan strategy

Last week, President Obama ruled out shrinking the war
in Afghanistan to a counterterrorism campaign. He also
failed to signal whether he is prepared to send any more troops
to the war zone — either the 40,000 regional commander
General Stanley McChrystal wants, or a smaller buildup
of 10,000 troops.

Obama is examining how to proceed with a worsening
war that has already claimed 799 lives and has exasperated
American patience. Launched after the Sept. 11 attacks to
defeat Taliban insurgents and rid al-Qaeda of their home
base, the war has lasted longer than ever envisioned—
eight years today.

However, the President did not reveal any plans for troop
escalation. His handpicked commander in Afghanistan,
General McChrystal, has repeatedly warned that more
troops are needed to win the war, or rather, to avoid defeat.
He estimates that the number of additional troops needed
to ensure even a chance of success is 40,000. However, it
is important to note that Obama has already added 21,000
troops this year, raising the total to 68,000 in November.
Obama may be considering a more modest build-up of
troops—closer to 10,000, according to Republican and
Democratic congressional aides, but White House aides
said no such decision has been made yet. The president
insisted that he would make a decision on troops after settling
on the strategy ahead. He has even told Congress and
other lawmakers he will act deliberately yet show urgency.

But what are the administration's exact goals for the
region? Obama has said that his focus is to keep Al-Qaeda
from having a home base from which to launch attacks on
the U.S. and its allies. However, it increasingly looks like
the close relationship between Al-Qaeda and the Taliban,
coupled with the incessant insurgency of Taliban fighters
as they grow powerful in certain regions of the country,
make Obama's decision more difficult – will he be able to
defeat Al-Qaeda without intensifying the "nation-building
activities" that so many Americans oppose?

Obama is keen to get as much input as possible before
reaching a final decision. Even though White House aides
keep stressing that the decision is expected in a few weeks,
it is important to remember that every passing day continues
to frustrates the military due to a lack of strategic
vision. At the same time, the President does have to be
mindful of all his options. Top advisors to his office have
said that Abdullah Abdullah's recent withdrawal from the
Afghanistan presidential runoff election will not complicate
his decision-making about his war strategy within the
country. The constant developments in insurgent activities
and the strong challenge that the Taliban presents to the
Karzai government definitely have to be factored in to his
plans.

Lastly, even though the additional troops will not be deployed
until the spring or summer of next year, the President
will be faced with some concerns about securing the
support he needs domestically, whatever his decision. He
is likely to get significant Republican support if he follows
the advice of his military commanders. However, the
Democrats seem divided: while top politicians like Joe
Biden and John Kerry strongly oppose the escalation of
troops and other powerful figures like Hillary Clinton and
Robert Gates think it is necessary to escalate in order to
secure the U.S.'s goals for the region, others believe that
Obama just needs more time – pressuring him to devise his
war-strategy sooner might prove to be costly.