WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is holding off major decisions that could put its military forces on a firmer war footing in Afghanistan even as doubts grow about whether the United States can win there.
Many military and diplomatic leaders have urged President Barack Obama to send thousands more Marines, soldiers and pilots to try to reverse Afghanistan's crumbling security situation.
But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs has said no decision about adding troops is expected for "weeks and weeks," following what he described as intensive evaluation. The troop decision will be a first indicator of whether Obama intends to double down in Afghanistan, becoming a wartime president in earnest.
Leading Democrats in Congress have signaled they do not support a troop increase now, and maybe not at all. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, has the unhappy task of telling the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday why the United States should stay the course and commit to what he calls a "properly resourced counterinsurgency effort."
Mullen's long-scheduled nomination hearing for a second term as the president's chief military adviser will be chaired by Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., who warned the White House last week not to push for a big troop increase. He wants the Pentagon to focus on quicker training for Afghan security forces instead.
Mullen has sounded increasingly alarmed about the growing technical capabilities of a resurgent Taliban and about the lackluster support among Afghans for the foreign-run enterprise that purports to protect them from a homegrown insurgent movement.
"Time is not on our side," Mullen said this month.
Postponing whether to add more American forces and alter other aspects of military strategy could give the White House breathing room for other priorities, including a health care overhaul and a hard-fought defense budget package.
Leading congressional Republicans, who have become Obama's strongest supporters for the Afghan effort, are fretting that he will punt.
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., warned in a Wall Street Journal essay on Monday that muddling through is a recipe for disaster.
"More troops will not guarantee success in Afghanistan, but a failure to send them is a guarantee of failure," they wrote.
Fifty-one U.S. troops died in Afghanistan in August, more than any other month since the U.S.-led invasion in October 2001. The rising casualty toll and the addition of 21,000 U.S. forces this year have heightened public scrutiny of what was once called the "forgotten war." Now Iraq holds that distinction, although nearly twice as many U.S. soldiers remain stationed there than in Afghanistan.
Recent national polls indicate slipping support for the nearly eight-year war and growing doubt that it can be won. The latest AP-GfK survey finds that fewer than half — 46 percent — now approve of Obama's handling of Afghanistan, a 9 percentage point drop since July.
A CNN poll conducted in the final four days of August said 42 percent supported the war and 57 percent opposed it. That compared with 53 percent supporting and 46 percent opposing in early April, days after Obama announced a new war strategy and vowed to provide resources to the war effort in ways his predecessor had not.
"I just don't know that more troops is the answer," Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said Sunday on CNN. She is also a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I'm just wondering where this ends and how we'll know if this succeeded."
Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is widely expected to ask for more forces for what he describes as a nearly complete do-over of the Bush administration's strategy to fight an increasingly unpopular war.
That request is expected within two weeks, following a summer-long review and a classified assessment of the prospects for applying the revamped counterinsurgency strategy that Obama outlined earlier this year.
Congressional defense leaders are due to be briefed this week on McChrystal's assessment, which was the subject of a White House huddle with top military leaders Sunday. The White House is also due to submit a set of Afghanistan benchmarks or performance tests to Congress next week.

The White House has been vague about what happens next, but Gibbs' rough timeline suggests that any choices about whether to escalate the war will come after the worst of the fighting for this year. Because of the cold, fighting tends to ebb in mid- to late fall and begin again in earnest in mid-spring.

"I think it will be many weeks of evaluation and assessment," Gibbs said.

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EDITOR'S NOTE — Anne Gearan covers national security policy for The Associated Press.

BAGHDAD – Iraqi police officials say two people were killed in incidents involving bombs in the capital and the violence-plagued northern city of Mosul.
In northwestern Baghdad, a bomb attached to a civilian car exploded, killing the driver and wounding two passengers.
In Mosul, an improvised bomb went off near an Iraqi army patrol, prompting soldiers to open fire to scare off any attackers. A stray bullet from the shooting killed a traffic policeman.
The police officials spoke about Saturday's attacks on condition of anonymity because they are not official spokesmen.
While violence has eased in many parts of Iraq, bombings and other attacks remain common in Baghdad and in Mosul. The U.S. military calls Mosul the last urban stronghold of al-Qaida in Iraq.

NEW YORK – Annie Leibovitz has won an extension on a $24 million loan in a financial dispute that threatened her rights to her famous images, the two sides said in a joint statement Friday.
Leibovitz and the company, Art Capital Group, said the 59-year-old photographer had been given more time to repay the loan. The loan's deadline passed on Tuesday, but both parties had continued to work to try to resolve the dispute. Neither party would specify the length of the extension.
"In these challenging times I am appreciative to Art Capital for all they have done to resolve this matter and for their cooperation and continued support," Leibovitz said in the statement.
Her spokesman Matthew Hiltzik declined to comment on specifics of the deal.
Last year, Leibovitz put up as collateral three Manhattan townhouses, an upstate New York property and the copyright to every picture she has ever taken — or will take — to secure the loan.
Leibovitz needed the money, according to Art Capital, to deal with a "dire financial condition" stemming from her mortgage obligations, tax liens and unpaid bills.
The company sued her in July, claiming she had breached an agreement that authorized it to act as the agent in the sale of her photography and real estate. On Friday, the parties said Art Capital withdrew the lawsuit and sold back the rights to her works.
Leibovitz "purchased from Art Capital its rights to act as exclusive agent in the sale of her real property and copyrights," the joint statement said. "Ms. Leibovitz will therefore retain control of those assets within the context of the loan agreement which shall prevail until satisfied."
The company declined to say how much Leibovitz paid for the company's rights to act as agent.
"It was important to us to be flexible and to work out an agreement with Ms. Leibovitz that helps her achieve financial stability," Art Capital said.
"I think this is a win-win for both parties," said William Heller, an intellectual property attorney not involved in the case, when told of the agreement. "An amicable resolution in disputes like these is far better than an adjudicated solution, which comes at great cost and great delay."
"Art Capital is most concerned about repayment of its loan, and Annie Leibovitz is most concerned about protecting her rights in her valuable intellectual property," Heller added.
Should she default, Heller said, "the consequences will be determined by the terms of the deal they had just renegotiated."
But he said it appeared that "there has been fair consideration exchanged so that she could buy back control of her collection. It sounds like a common-sense result, a fair result and an intelligent result for both parties."
Leibovitz's artsy, provocative portraits of celebrities have made her nearly as famous as the celebrities in her images. Her portraits have regularly graced the covers of Vanity Fair, Vogue and Rolling Stone
Over the years, her lens has captured such famous faces as Queen Elizabeth II, Demi Moore and Bruce Springsteen. One of her best-known images depicts a nude John Lennon cuddling with a clothed Yoko Ono just hours before he was fatally shot.
She gave the world its first glimpse of baby Suri, newborn daughter of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, on the cover of Vanity Fair, which she joined in 1983.
Art Capital, a Manhattan-based company that issues loans against fine and decorative arts and real estate, had estimated the value of Leibovitz's portfolio at $40 million, and real estate brokers have said her New York properties were worth about $40 million.

LOS ANGELES – A judge granted Audrina Patridge a temporary restraining order from a man recently arrested outside the actress' home, court records show.
Patridge, a star of the MTV series "The Hills" sought and was granted the order on Thursday.
Her filing states that Zachary Loring, 24, first appeared at her home on Aug. 26 and came back over the next several days. Patridge's filings and jail records show Loring was arrested on Aug. 30 and released a day later.
Loring gave Patridge a packet of letters and drawings, including one that showed a woman being strangled when he first went to her home, the court filing states. He appeared three days later and was captured on surveillance footage, according to the documents.
Loring was arrested after Patridge saw him outside her home on Aug. 30. Jail records do not indicate if he has an attorney and a phone number could not be immediately located.
"Ms. Patridge is in great fear of returning to her home and is currently staying outside of Los Angeles County due to her fear for her personal and physical safety," her attorney wrote in the restraining order petition.
The order requires Loring to remain 100 yards away from Patridge and her younger brother, Mark and to not try to contact either of them.
A hearing on a three-year restraining order is scheduled for Sept. 30.
Patridge also appears in the horror film "Sorority Row," which opens in theaters on Friday.
The filing was first reported by celebrity Web site TMZ.