Congratulations to President Barack Obama for winning the Nobel Peace Prize last week.

The president himself acknowledged the prize is more of a statement by the Nobel committee about things they hope are to come than for things he has yet to accomplish. Unfortunately, it appears he will have to continue and possibly expand a war in order to really earn the peace.

Key of those things that are to come is the resolution of our conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly the latter at this point. Obama has been given a 66-page assessment of the situation in that country by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of the International Security Assistance Force, the conglomeration of U.S., NATO and Afghan military forces in Kabul, and the president and his advisors are using that document to shape future strategy.

In the report, McChrystal calls for a new strategy, basically one of winning over the Afghan populace and thus removing a key source of support for al-Qaida and the Taliban. This will require “an integrated civilian-military counterinsurgency campaign” that will be difficult in a nation whose populace has known nothing else but decades of continuing warfare.

McChrystal also notes we face a long term and short term fight, with the short term scenario, i.e., the next 12 months, being the most critical. We’ve done a poor job in counter-insurgency efforts and strategic changes are necessary, he wrote. Better cooperation with the Afghan people, and within the various military forces making up the ISAF is needed.

“We must do things dramatically differently — even uncomfortably differently — to change how we operate and how we think,” McChrystal wrote.

This assuredly will mean more troops, up to 40,000 more, according to some reports, although McChrystal does not mention that number in his report.

The president and his advisers are studying the report, and, hopefully, taking into account necessary logistical, supply and personnel factors before deciding what to do. They should not rush into this, but the decision Obama makes — and it ultimately is his alone — should be based heavily on what McChrystal has said. The president would be wise to ignore those clamoring for withdrawal because of political expediency or because the war is “unpopular.”

Al-Qaida’s power has waned considerably due to our military and economic fight against them, but they could rebound easily if the Taliban, which gave Osama bin Laden free rein to mount the Sept. 11 attacks, either retake the government or can establish areas where they can operate freely. This could occur, as the current Afghan government is seen as corrupt and inefficient, not only by Afghans but by McChrystal, another point he makes in his report.

In just over eight years of fighting, 843 military personnel have died in Operation Enduring Freedom, more than 4,100 have been wounded and casualty figures from Afghanistan as of late have been greater than those in Iraq. Even if things suddenly start going our way, there will be even more flag-draped transfer cases arriving at Dover Air Force Base and wounded being delivered to Walter Reed Army Hospital before this conflict is over. That’s the nature of war.

This war may be becoming “unpopular” but that’s not a factor the administration can consider when deciding how to best conduct it.