US Afghan decision expected in 'days'
Barack Obama's long-awaited decision on Afghan troops expected in 'days'
Tuesday, 24, Nov 2009 09:56
By Richard James.
Barack Obama's much-anticipated decision on whether to send an extra 40,000 troops into Afghanistan is expected to be made in the next few days.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Monday the US president had had a "rigorous" final meeting with his national security team and was now ready to announce what military action will be taken.
"President Obama has the information he wants and needs to make his decision and he will announce that decision within days," Mr Gibbs said.
The top US commander in Afghanistan General Stanley McChrystal has called on the president to send an extra 40,000 troops to the country to help in the fight against the Taliban insurgency.
However, the Obama administration, with one eye on public opinion, appears reluctant to simply send thousands more troops to Afghanistan without a concrete final strategy that includes some kind of timeline for when US soldiers can be withdrawn.
The Republicans on the other hand have criticised Mr Obama for "dithering" over making the important decision.
Reports suggest one of the options put forward by the president is for the deployment of an extra 34,000 troops to join the 68,000 already there, with firm commitments to working on handing over responsibility for security in the country to the Afghan government.