If you didn't catch CBS News' focus on Afghanistan last week, here's another chance to get educated.
Frontline presents "Obama's War," a thorough and powerful hour-long look at the central questions facing the Obama administration and the challenges facing the American military. It airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. on UNC-TV.
What I think the report does best is hone in what's being discussed now: should the president commit more troops or not. It does that by exploring what one person calls the "spectacularly ambitious" aims of the counter-insurgency versus the smaller goal of just making sure the country isn't a haven for Al Qaida.
Also examined is the U.S.'s relationship with Pakistan, a relationship that's at the core of the effort. There the issue is whether Pakistan can be a trusted ally and whether the U.S. needs to do more than, as one person puts it, help Pakistan be helpful in pursuing the Taliban.
Most potent, though, is the reporting done during the embed with Echo Company, a group of Marines trying to connect with the Afghani people. It's a mission fraught with ambushes by near-invisible enemies and language barriers and fear.
In a country rife with corruption, the Taliban offers the people some kind of law and order, albeit often through brutal means. The Marines are asked to convince the people to trust America instead, and the Marines don't have much in the way of convincing proof.
Warning: The first four or five minutes of "Obama's War" are tough to watch. Watch anyway. As this debate goes on, it's important to know what exactly the men and women who are on the ground are going through, and whether their effort is worth our goals.
In fact, you can check out the first 24 minutes of the piece right now:
Assistant Features Editor Adrienne Johnson Martin would like to have her life turned into an animated cartoon. 
