President Barack Obama continues to impress the world with his vision, confidence and clarity of thought, which helps explain why he seems to draw wild, enthusiastic crowds as he crisscrosses the globe.

Why, then, does he seem so lacking in those qualities when it comes to deciding America's military course in Afghanistan?

It is time for the president to make up his mind, announce his plan and execute it with the sense of urgency that Afghanistan's deteriorating situation dictates. We write these words fully aware of how important it is to get this right. It takes time to weigh the options of boosting troop levels to match a growing Taliban threat, to muddle through with existing levels or to begin withdrawing so Afghans can work out their own problems. Thousands of lives could depend on his decision.

For this newspaper, the most viable choice is to accept the recommendation of the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and dispatch tens of thousands more troops to beat back the Taliban's steady — and deadly — advance. The stakes are too high to do otherwise. Current U.S. troop levels are failing to hold the Taliban at bay, and reducing those levels would only hasten a takeover by the very Islamist extremists who hosted al-Qaida's leadership as they planned the 9/11 attacks.

Obama prudently wants to know where all this would lead and what would be the long-term U.S. commitment. He wants to know how to define victory against an amorphous enemy. But he has had plenty of time to mull those questions with his senior advisers and hone the options down to a workable plan.

Can such a plan predict all outcomes? No. Can it assuage all of Obama's concerns so he can be comfortable with his decision and fend off his critics? Probably not.

Will the outcome be messy? Most assuredly, no matter what he decides.

One thing for sure, the prospects of success will not improve the longer Obama delays. What are U.S. troops, not to mention our enemies, to make of his reluctance to make up his mind? An ill-defined mission with no clear strategy for victory cannot possibly have positive effects on the morale of U.S. troops, as they slog through yet another holiday season in the Afghan cold.

As commander in chief, Obama has a responsibility to exude decisiveness and convey a can-do attitude at all times. Those were big selling points for him as a presidential candidate. Americans took him at his word when he declared in July 2008 that he would make Afghanistan his military focus.

Today, Obama's extensive ruminations and consultations increasingly suggest a lack of confidence in the future course. And that's unacceptable.

FROM URGENT TO STALLED

"The situation is precarious and urgent here in Afghanistan. . . . I think one of the biggest mistakes we've made strategically after 9/11 was to fail to finish the job here, focus our attention here." — Candidate Barack Obama, July 2008.

"We're getting there." — White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, Oct. 7.

"We have finished at the broad landscape level. We are in the decision-making phase now." — Robert Gibbs, Oct. 14.

"We are very close to a decision. I will announce that decision certainly in the next several weeks." — Barack Obama, during this week's trip to China