U.S. President Barack Obama and his war council weighed final options for a new Afghanistan strategy late on Wednesday, as a proposed 30,000-plus troop increase gained favor among top advisers, officials said.
Facing increasing public skepticism over the eight-year-old war, the White House said after the meeting that Obama had yet to make up his mind on the ideas his national security team presented. His press secretary has insisted a decision is still weeks away.
Officials privately have described proposals that would call for deeper U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan to confront a resurgent Taliban and its Qaeda allies. The options differ in the number of extra troops to be sent.
Obama held the 2-1/2-hour review, the eighth in a series of such meetings, as a new opinion poll showed a growing number of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan is not going well and disapprove of his handling of the situation.
Record combat deaths have eroded U.S. public support and sending more troops could become a political liability for Obama ahead of congressional elections next year.
Among the four strategy options Obama is considering, administration officials said there was growing support among his top advisers -- including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen -- for deploying 30,000 or more additional troops.
At the low end of the spectrum, one plan would add 20,000-plus troops. Another would fully embrace a request by General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, for the 40,000 extra troops he says are needed to avert failure, the officials said.
Eikenberry's cables
But in stark contrast to McChrystal who warned that without tens of thousands more U.S. troops in the next 12 months, the Afghan mission "will likely result in failure," U.S. envoy in Kabul Ambassador Karl Eikenberry expressed his deep concern over additional troop deployment.
Eikenberry has written memos to Washington reporting strong reservations against sending reinforcements until Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government shows it can tackle widespread corruption that has spurred the Taliban's resurgence, U.S. media reported Wednesday
Eikenberry's cables also expressed worries over Karzai's erratic behavior, according to U.S. officials familiar with the memos, the Washington Post said.
Eikenberry joined Obama’s policy meeting by video link from Kabul, said the New York Times, adding that Obama discussed his concerns with him, according to officials who requested anonymity.
The envoy also voiced concern that sending tens of thousands of additional troops to the war-wracked country would boost Afghanistan's reliance on U.S. security forces as the Obama administration calls on Kabul to take over more responsibility in the conflict.
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