My take on Afghanistan is that presdent Obama felt that the Afghan theater had been ignored by the Bushies n favor of Iraq so he wanted to pump up the troops there to see if there was any chance of changing the outcome. After five years, it is time to get out and Obama has set the time table for that to occur this year.
As far as Republicans having respect for Obama, none of them do mainly because of the color of his skin. However, we will see if Hillary does any better with them if she is elected to 2016. They have an agenda that transcends people and individual politicians. And, I am sure that you remember that they didn't get along with Bill Clinton very well either when he was in office. At least they haven't impeached Obama yet. We wil see what happens in that regard if the Republicans win the senate in 2014.
IOVHO,
Regards,
Joe