At a time when President Obama is getting ready to unveil a new strategy to deal with the Taliban, the U.S. military in the eastern Afghan province of Khost are already trying a different approach.

For good reason.   After some eight years of U.S. presence in the region, the Taliban is stronger than ever before.

A Taliban faction called the Haqqani network based in nearby Pakistan with ties to Al Qaeda has been responsible for a string of Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s), suicide bomb attacks, mortars, rockets, and assassination.

According to locals, the militants are stepping into a gap left by an under resourced U.S. military effort and an underwhelming and corrupt local government and security apparatus.

The Khosti’s aren’t in favor of the Taliban. They are intimidated though.  And sometimes tempted.

“They are afraid and they are scared,” local Afghan Police commander Bismullah Hashimi told Fox News.

And so after many missteps, the U.S. military in Khost is trying a counter-insurgency approach to the problem. Standing up to the locals so they can stand up to the militants.

Alpha Company of the 4th Airborne Brigade Combat Team out of Fort Richardson, Alaska, are based at Combat Outpost Gurbuz just south of Khost City. They live, work and train with Afghan soldiers and police.  And then they go out on joint patrols.

It’s been done before but rarely has the attempt been so comprehensive, and with such “high up” backing, including U.S. commander in Afghanistan Gen. Stanley McChrystal

Young Captain Justin Pritchard, commanding officer at COP Gurbuz, told us they’re trying to get the Afghans into the fight.  I asked him how it’s going.

“There are challenges,” he told us.

Challenges indeed. We went out on one mission with U.S. and Afghan soldiers following up a tip on a car bomb.  It was a false lead.

And another operation we went on with the troops involved traffic control points which netted two guys with weapons who might or might not have had permission to carry them.

The soldiers here admit the whole thing is a work in progress and there is no guarantee of success.

They also admit they could use more soldiers, money  and time.   Three things President Obama could deliver next week.

“We can always use more troops and resources,” Capt. Pritchard told Fox News.   “But we basically do the best with what we have.”

The one thing they don’t think would be wise is another possible option for the President — pulling out of Afghanistan.

And so the troops of Alpha Company will be listening to the President next week.  No doubt their foes will be too.