Increasing war weariness on the part of the American public and in Congress has made it politically possible for President Obama to move away from the costly civil-military counterinsurgency strategy, without needing to fear criticism from the Republicans. The creeping transition to what is known as a counterterrorism strategy widens the scope for troop reduction. Militarily, this strategy hardly entails much more than the elimination of as many insurgents as possible by kill or capture operations – whether in the hope of forcing the opponent's leaders to negotiate, or in the expectation that this will put stronger Afghan security forces in a better position to manage the remain¬ing danger. As part of this counterterrorism strategy, the US would like to maintain a military presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014.
