On Afghanistan: Obama's Approval Drops; Speech To Outline Exit Strategy

Pre-speech analyses and reporting on President Barack Obama's upcoming announcement of how many more troops he'll be sending to Afghanistan and how long he expects U.S. forces will still be there are all over the news media this morning.

Here's a sampling:

— The Washington Post — "War Speech To Outline Escalation And Exit": "When he talks to the nation next week about his Afghanistan strategy, President Obama will face the central challenge of explaining why he is escalating an eight-year-old war that is increasingly unpopular with the American public, while he also outlines plans for ending it."

— The New York Times — "U.S. Strategy On Afghanistan Will Contain Many Messages": One national security adviser to the president tells the Times that for Obama, the trick will be "signaling resolve to the allies while not signaling open-ended commitment to the American people."

— The Wall Street Journal — "Surge Targets Taliban Bastion": "Commanders in Afghanistan say they will devote the majority of the fresh troops expected from the White House to securing the country's troubled south and will especially target this volatile city, the Taliban's main power base."

— USA TODAY — Poll Shows Drop In Approval Of Obama On War: "Public approval of President Obama's handling of the war in Afghanistan has plummeted, a USA TODAY/Gallup Poll finds, amid rising pessimism about the course of the conflict. The nation is divided over what to do next: Nearly half of those surveyed endorse deploying thousands of additional U.S. troops, while four in 10 say it's time to begin withdrawing forces."

Meanwhile, Britain's Defense minister says Obama and his administration are to blame for a drop in support among Britons for the effort in Afghanistan, Larry Miller reports from London: