War in Afghanistan Is Being Fought on Two Fronts

By GERALD F. SEIB, WSJ

The Obama administration is fighting two battles on Afghanistan now. One is the newly expanded fight on the ground against the Taliban. The other is a fight against the clock in Congress, where patience could wear out before the Taliban do.

On the military front, a week has passed since Marines launched the biggest Afghan offensive in years, driving into the country's southern Helmand province to root out the Taliban. That signaled a new phase in the war effort and has produced some success on the ground.

But the offensive also has illustrated anew that success in Afghanistan will come at a cost: Ten American soldiers died in the past week. Meanwhile, U.S. officials talk of a need to train more Afghan soldiers, and the Pentagon's top military leader says it will take 12 to 18 months to turn around the struggle with the Taliban.

That is where political considerations enter the picture. Key Democrats in Congress have made it clear that they have limited patience with the fight in Afghanistan, now finishing its eighth year. Some lawmakers wanted to start cutting off money for the fight this year. Ultimately, Congress decided to fully fund the effort but implied that the Pentagon and White House would have to show progress by early next year or see war funding imperiled.

(More here.)