Afghanistan at Dangerous New Crossroads

While sections of the report remain classified it has been widely reported that it lays the groundwork for sending more troops there.

More coalition troops have been killed so far this year – 310 -- than in all of 2008. August was the bloodiest month since the beginning of the war.

Afghanistan has a long history of instability and violence: even the novel Moby-Dick, written 150 years ago, begins with the sailor Ishmael pondering the headline "Bloody Battle in Afghanistan."

Are more troops the answer?

	Gen. McChyrstal has said that success in Afghanistan depends on increasing local support for the Afghan government.

Some military officials believe McChrystal may ask for an additional 20,000 troops in the coming weeks. If so, President Obama will face the prospect of sending more troops to an unpopular war he did not originally wage, or continuing the fight with current levels. Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona has already accused the White House of pressuring McChrystal to ask for fewer troops than he requires.

Not everyone thinks that more troops are the answer, Thomas Johnson a research professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and co-author of "Afghanistan is Today's Vietnam" told the NewsHour.

"It's a manpower-distribution problem. My estimation is less than 4 percent of our troops are involved in reconstruction activities, and that's no way to secure a population and win a counterinsurgency."

The Obama administration has called for a set of goals to measure success in Afghanistan and stated that troops would focus on protecting civilians and isolating insurgents, instead of fighting the Taliban head on.

Afghanistan elections: charges of fraud and corruption

	Despite the 200,000 Afghan troops and police officers positioned in major cities, Afghans cast ballots amid a spike in violence.

This summer’s presidential elections in Afghanistan have done little to calm the disorder. Election Day saw a spike of violence and Afghan news outlets were forbidden by the government to report any violence for fear of discouraging voters.

There were also many allegations of fraud, including ballot-box stuffing and voter intimidation, according to the commission investigating the complaints. It is hard to get an official population count as Afghanistan has no census, but the results suggest a disappointing turnout of only around 5 million votes in a country of some 30 million people and an estimated 15 million eligible voters.

With almost half the votes counted, incumbent President Hamid Karzai led with 45.8 percent of the vote. Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah had 33.2 percent; to win either must get more than 50 percent. There are around 30 other candidates whose supporters could be decisive if a run-off is necessary.

Parts of Afghanistan still controlled by Taliban

	Taliban smuggling routes set up along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border present a major security problem for U.S. forces.

With major problems in Taliban controlled southern Afghanistan, and eastern Afghanistan controlled by the militant Haqqani network, the new Afghan president and allied forces face many problems of security in the country and its neighbor, Pakistan.

Recently, the White House sent unmanned drone airplanes to the Pakistani mountains in the border region between the two countries, killing the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Baitullah Mehsud.

While still smaller in scale to the war in Iraq, several newspaper editorials have already called the war in Afghanistan "Obama's Vietnam," alluding to its difficulty to win.