Afghanistan: The Road Ahead
President Barack Obama and his top Afghan war commander, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, met privately aboard Air Force One on Friday. At issue is Obama's looming decision on what strategic course to pursue in the region.
Gen. McChrystal maintains that additional troops, up to 40,000, are needed within the next year or else the conflict "will likely result in failure." Some advisers are counseling the president to avoid a troop surge, and instead focus on eliminating al Qaeda leadership and applying U.S. forces to bringing the Afghan military up to speed. In addition, public support is for the war is waning.
At this crossroad, on the cusp of the eighth anniversary approaching of U.S. forces fighting the war in Afghanistan, the CBS Evening News will broadcast a three-part, in-depth examination of the conflict called, "Afghanistan: The Road Ahead," airing October 5-7.
Katie Couric will lead the expanded coverage with reporting and analysis from Afghanistan by CBS News' Chief Foreign Correspondent Lara Logan, National Security Correspondent David Martin and Foreign Correspondent Terry McCarthy.
We hope to provide deeper insight into the challenges facing the U.S. and its allies in Afghanistan, and answer some key questions, such as:
• Having won the first round of the war in Afghanistan, how did the United States allow the Taliban to fight back to where, some have argued, they are winning?
• Has the war in Afghanistan reduced the threat of terrorism on U.S. soil and against U.S. interests?
• Do the new counterinsurgency plans actually have a chance of success, even with many more American soldiers sent in?
• Would a pull out - while saving American military lives and money - increase the likelihood of terrorists getting control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons?
CBSNews.com will have complete coverage of the "Afghanistan: The Road Ahead," including additional material found only on the Web.