Obama Faces Challenges on Afghanistan, Terror Trial, Gitmo and Fort Hood

Sixty-nine percent of Americans now think things are going badly in Afghanistan compared to 23 percent who believe they are going well, a big turn for the negative since September when 53 percent said things were going badly and 35 percent said they were going well. The percentage of Republicans who think things are going well has dropped from 47 percent in September to 27 percent. The number of independents who thought things were going well fell from 34 percent to 21 percent. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats think things are going badly compared to 22 percent who say they are going well.

Thirty-nine percent think Obama should decrease troops levels there, 32 percent support an increase and 20 percent say the current levels should be maintained.

On the Obama administration's decision to put Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his accused four co-conspirators on trial in a civilian court in New York for the Sept. 11 attacks, 54 percent say they should have been tried in a military court while 40 percent say the criminal trial in New York's southern district is the right move.

The polls have disagreed on this point. A CNN/Opinion Research poll said 64 percent favored a military tribunal. A Washington Post/ABC News poll found the public almost evenly split.

Fifty percent favor keeping Guantanamo open as a place to hold suspected terrorist while 39 percent favor closing it as the Obama administration has promised to do.

On the Fort Hood shootings, Americans consider it a terrorist act by 48 percent to 38 percent with 14 percent undecided, and 51 percent believe that the military had information on the accused, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, that could have prevented the 13 killings at the base.