Afghan War: "Fragile, Reversible" Progress

The White House has just released a summary of its classified review of Afghan war policy, concluding that if it’s not working well, at least slow and erratic progress is being made. The study, once viewed as a key pivot point in the war, dimmed in importance after the U.S. and its NATO allies conceded they’d be leading the fight against Taliban and al Qaeda militants until at least 2015. Yet even as the combat horizon has lengthened, the White House review says that some U.S. troops should be able to begin coming home from the war next summer. A year ago, President Obama sent an additional 30,000 troops into battle, boosting the U.S. troop presence to about 100,000. President Obama and members of his national-security team will be discussing the report later today.