Despite receiving requests from commanders on the ground for another 40,000 troops to win in Afghanistan, Barack Obama is now expected to send just 30,000 additional troops — down form the 34,000 troops it was reported he would send just last week. That from two major news outlets (NBC and NY Times).

A reduction of 4,000 troops in just under a week is significant. And now we’re told he may well change his mind again before the announcement. Which would indicate that Obama remains as indecisive on national security policy as ever, worried about upsetting his liberal base by actually pursuing victory in the fight against the Taliban.

And that’s not all:

But the administration seems prepared to reject another of Gen. McChrystal’s top priorities: his call to double the size of the Afghan police and army over the next few years.

The administration now favors an alternative plan that would seek to build a larger Afghan security force, but one that would be considerably smaller than what Gen. McChrystal had wanted, these people said. The president is likely to talk about Afghan troops Tuesday, without specifying a growth target for expanding their ranks.

“The president has a realistic view of how successful the training regimen can be, and that has helped inform his decision,” a senior administration official said Sunday.

Placing less emphasis on Afghan forces risks irking Democrats leery about an extended and expensive escalation.

McChrystal is a four-star general picked for this mission by Obama himself. We were told the administration had complete confidence in him. And now not only is the president with absolutely no military experience sending significantly fewer troops than his commander requested, but we’re not even going to pursue the long-term ground security strategy he laid out.

Obama’s handling of Afghanistan has been a disgrace. And I fear it’s only going to get worse from here on out.