As President Obama contemplates the strategy in Afghanistan, the political debate in Washington has gone viral. A troop request from President Obama’s top commander – Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal in Afghanistan is expected to offer the president a range of options, including an increase of as many as 40,000 troops, scenarios for lower increases and a proposal to redeploy troops already in the country to make better use of them, administration and Pentagon officials said Sunday.

Senior officials made clear that any action on General McChrystal’s troop request would await the president’s decision on whether the right strategy was in place — a decision that in turn might prompt a re-evaluation of the right number of troops required.

Boehner called on President Obama to clarify where he stands on Afghanistan, and accused him of questioning the strategy he laid out in March. The White House has downplayed the expected troop request, saying the overall Afghanistan strategy needs to be assessed before any such decisions can be made.

“We need more troops to implement an effective counterinsurgency strategy,” Boehner said. “The longer we wait the more doubts we have.”

“If the president won’t make this case, who will?” Boehner asked.

Earlier this week, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., also agreed that McChrystal should brief Congress on his recommendations for revising U.S. military strategy.