The latest news coming out of Afghanistan is not good. There is likely to be a second round of voting in the presidential race, which will keep the government in flux and U.S. troops preoccupied for at least another month–and the results of any election will be questioned because of the semi-successful Taliban suppression of the vote in the Pashtun-majority south.

Then, there is the military situation. This report details the problems the US Marines are having in crucial Helmand province: