President Barack Obama will meet key members of his administration and the US army today to discuss Afghanistan as the conflict enters its ninth year.
Among those present at the closed-door session of the national security team will be Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton, Defence Secretary Robert Gates, and head of US Central Command General David Petraeus.
They will be joined via videolink by General Stanley McChrystal, the US’s top military commander in Afghanistan. The US and Nato commander is calling for more combat troops to be deployed in the region to turn around fortunes in the flagging war.
It is thought that President Obama has reservations over further increasing the number of soldiers in Afghanistan. Recent speeches have focused on making sure that the strategy is right before turning to the need for more personnel.
Yesterday, the president told politicians in Washington that finding a way forward in Afghanistan was not simply a choice between upping troop numbers or getting out.
The president held a cross-party private meeting with 18 members of Congress as he continued to deliberate over Gen McChrystal’s report which some have suggested calls for up to 45,000 additional fighters to help defeat the Taliban.
Those at the meeting described tension, with some politicians reportedly airing concern that accepting the general’s recommendation would be costly in terms of both money and human life.
Mr Obama is believed to have told those gathered that he will be rigorous and deliberate in his review of the current situation in Afghanistan. But he added that he understood the urgency of turning around the situation on the ground, according to a source from the administration.
The White House official added that Mr Obama told members of Congress that he wanted discussion about the US’s next move to be honest and that debate should not be on false choices between big troop increases or leaving the country.
On Monday, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters in Washington that pulling out of Afghanistan was “not something that has ever been entertained”.
Mr Gibbs continued: “I don’t think we have the option to leave. I think that’s quite clear.”
The president is under increasing pressure to make a decision over General McChrystal’s report.
The US has suffered from heavy losses in recent fighting in Afghanistan. On Saturday, eight soldiers were killed in an attack on two isolated American outposts in eastern Afghanistan. This was followed on Sunday with the death of another US soldier who was killed in a bomb attack in the south of the country.
Popularity within the US for continued involvement in the conflict is on the wane, according to recent surveys.
AP