What about Afghanistan?

As the dust has begun to settle on President Obama's new administration, nothing stands to tarnish his long term legacy or unravel his presidency more than the war in Afghanistan.

Numerous stories have been coming out talking about how, even though he dispatched 20,000 additional troops in March of this year and has pledged an unyiedling commitment of resources, the conflict is going badly as a tough and resilient foe is regrouping and emboldening their attacks; and the infrastructure of the country is failing. Obama also faces more problems as the results of the Afghan election continue to be disputed and reports of rampant government corruption hamper US efforts to try and duplicate the sort of democracy building that made their efforts in Iraq more successful. In a word, the situation is grim.

The top general in Afghanistan has made no secret about his desire for even more troops, but the administration has slowed down its decision making on the war to re-think a new strategy, holding high level meetings to discuss options. Extreme caution has been shown by the white house in releasing details on what the president's thoughts are, much to the chagrin of hawkish conservatives, who are anxious for Obama to keep his earlier promises of fully supporting and financing whatever is needed to win in Afghanistan and are howling that he isn't simply following the advice of his generals. He is also facing pressure from liberals on the left to wrap up the war and a growing skepticism from an American public that is weary of war and recession and longs for peace and prosperity.

Now that health care reform has new momentum in congress and it's passage seems more imminent now that it has come down to the grinding legislative process that needs less public help from his office, the president can now focus more time on the war. The decisions that he makes are likely to have lasting effects on his presidency and for his party, much in the same way that the war in Iraq had devastating consequences for former President Bush and the Republicans after 2006, but of course they know this and will continue to deliberate until their absolutely certain they have the right approach.

Most likely Obama will try and take a middle of the road approach and apply his signature pragmatism, but whatever he does, Americans have to see that he is leading, making tough decisions and isn't going to be too deferential to the progressives in his party especially since his only allies may be some of the same Republicans that have tripped up his domestic agenda at almost every opportunity. The White House may have to swallow the bitter pill and shore up as much GOP support as possible, but they'll also have to be cautious not to put itself in the middle of a partisan showdown in congress with the white house in the middle and infighting amongst their own party, esecially as next years congressional midterms loom and the rest of Obama's ambitious domestic agenda remains unmoved.