President Obama and the Future of Afghanistan

Afghanistan is at an important point in its history right now. It has just had an election in which both candidates, incumbent Hamid Karzai and challenger and former foreign minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah have declared victory. There is said to be a runoff election. This, though important, is not only part of what will determine their future.
 
The other part is President Obama's choice in how to proceed in the war there. He has increased troops, and may do so again if General McChrystal asks for it, but it is not a sure thing. His problem though is that the war is starting to take its toll on the left wing of the Democratic Party. They are starting to get tired of the start of the trickling death toll that they hear on the news. Obama's problem is he is in fact a creature of this faction. He most likely shares many of their views, and they did bring him to power. Some of the more liberal in Congress want a timetable of sorts, but they do not realize this is impossible. The war in Afghanistan is a war that is primarily a counterinsurgency (COIN) campaign. These historically take longer. If President Obama takes the easy way out and succumbs to pressure he will look as if he was disingenuous when he committed, in his campaign, to fight the war in Afghanistan more aggressively. It will take courage on President Obama's part to continue and in tun support the allies we have there. It will be a long, hard slog, but what must be realized is that the alternative to leaving would result in disaster.