"AfPak" is American foreign policy and military speak for the giant challenge the United States face in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

After spending trillions of dollars and committing more more than 100,000 troops to Iraq, the U.S. and its allies are staring down the barrel of a Taliban gun in "AfPak." In one case, Pakistan, just a stone's throw from the nuclear power's capital. In the other, after 8 years of war, in Afghanistan, where Taliban forces are active and strong in the southern part of the country.

This is not the scenario U.S. officials anticipated for the region where 9-11 was plotted.

The extremist, medieval-minded Taliban are not getting weaker. President Obama is sending 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. But analysts and experts all agree the end result will involve accepting an imperfect nation with strong Taliban control in certain portions of the country. The objective now is to support a central government and keep the rest of country relatively stable.

How far we've come from the stated goals of 2001/02.

We'll be live in Washington where President Obama is meeting with his Afghan and Pakistani counterparts. We'll also take you to Afghanistan and Pakistan throughout the hour.

Also today, an interesting story coming to us from Miami. A handsome, young Catholic priest (aptly named Cutie – sadly pronounced Coot-Yeh) caught frolicking on the beach with a woman. Both wearing bathing suits, the woman and Father Alberto Cutie were pictured on the front page of a tabloid having what looked like a very good time. Father Alberto is now on leave from the Catholic church and taken off his popular radio show.

As is always the case when Catholic clergy succomb to the temptation of the flesh, the question of whether the Church should allow priests to marry comes up.

Of all the Tweets I've received, all were in favor of abolishing celibacy for priests.

We'll be live in Miami for more on the story and reaction from Padre Alberto's fans.

We're also following the story of the pregnant British woman arrested for alleged drug smuggling in Laos. We're in Laos for the latest and in the UK, where the suspect's mother spoke to CNN.

We have a great show today so hope you can all tune in.

See you on TV!

Hala

Posted by: CNN Anchor, Hala Gorani
Filed under: Today At The I-Desk