Afghanistan -- Expectation of insurgents is that the international community is going to tire of this and is going to back off.

From The Washington Post:

June was the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the war there began in late 2001 . . . .

Defense officials and Afghanistan experts said the toll of 28 U.S. combat deaths recorded last month demonstrates a new resurgence of the Taliban, the black-turbaned extremists who were driven from power by U.S. forces almost seven years ago.

About 32,000 American troops are stationed in Afghanistan, along with about 30,000 from other countries. The United States has 145,000 troops in Iraq, according to the Defense Department.

Some experts, including those at the Pentagon, say that the war in Afghanistan will probably become more violent before it calms, meaning the next U.S. president could inherit an increasingly bloody conflict.

"A lot of it is psychological warfare, with the belief that what they have to do is stay in the game," said Marvin G. Weinbaum, an Afghanistan expert at the Middle East Institute. "They want to draw attention to themselves as a serious force, with the expectation that the international community is going to tire of this and is going to back off."