We've known for more than a year that President Obama is planning to begin a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in July, but we don't know what the pace will be.
Now we wonder if that pace will quicken after the death of Osama bin Laden.
Certainly many Democrats -- and some Republicans -- are urging a stepped-up withdrawal.
"I think there's going to be a lot of strong feeling on the part of most Democrats and many, I think many independents, and even some Republicans that the decision of the president to reduce the number of troops in Afghanistan should be a robust reduction," said Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., said, "our reaction to the death of bin Laden should be that we declare victory. ... I think this changes the whole dynamics of the war on terrorism. Let's go after them. Let's not occupy a country for 10 years for nothing but a waste of lives."
Observers will be looking for clues from Obama on Friday, when he visits returning Afghanistan soldiers at Fort Campbell, Ky.
"Fort Campbell is home to several units, including the 101st Airborne Division which has several Brigade Combat Teams that have recently returned from Afghanistan, even as a significant part of the division remains deployed,"' said the White House announcement.
As Obama meets with advisers about the Afghanistan pullout, bin Laden's death isn't the only new element.
Gen. David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has been nominated by Obama to be CIA director.
The current CIA director, Leon Panetta, is on tap to replace retiring Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
In the meantime, some lawmakers are arguing against a too-hasty retreat from Afghanistan, lest it again become a harbor for the kinds of terrorists once rallied by bin Laden.
"We would repeat a mistake that we made once before when we pulled out of Afghanistan after the Soviets did," said Sen. Joe Lieberman, I-Conn. "That invited ultimately the Taliban and al-Qaeda into Afghanistan and from Afghanistan they attacked us on 9/11."
See photos of: Barack Obama, Afghanistan, Robert Gates, David Petraeus
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