Hard choices in Afghanistan: what's next?

A special report from All Things Considered and NPR.org explores the challenges facing President Obama, America and Afghanistan in the troubled region and the options available to the U.S.

Soon after taking office, President Obama said America's primary strategic interest is to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat" al-Qaida and prevent its return to Afghanistan. Obama has also said he doesn't want the Taliban to return to power. He ordered more troops to Afghanistan — U.S. forces there now total 68,000 — and more may be on the way.

As part of a strategy review, Obama is considering a request for tens of thousands of additional troops from his top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal.

NPR's Tom Bowman, currently with the Marines in Helmand province, says about a third of the American forces in Afghanistan are combat troops, mostly deployed in the volatile eastern and southern parts of the country. Bowman says that under McChrystal, the U.S. troops' mission is evolving from "search and destroy" operations against al-Qaida to protecting the population and helping the Afghans improve governance. "The focus is to move U.S. troops toward population areas and away from remote areas like the Korengal Valley, northeast of Kabul," says Bowman.

From NPR.org