Obama could announce troop surge 'within days'

Tue Nov 24 2009 09:48:06

Barack Obama could confirm an increase in the number of US troops in Afghanistan within days according to the White House.

The US President, who has been considering a further deployment to combat Taliban insurgents, could use a war council session to make his long-awaited decision.

A presidential spokesman said it was possible Mr Obama could announce his decision at the meeting or that it could come "over the course of the next several days".

Military officials and others said they expected Mr Obama to settle on a middle-ground option that would deploy an eventual 32,000 to 35,000 US forces to the eight-year-old conflict.

Obama has been reviewing war strategy in Afghanistan for the past two months after Army General Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander, said in a report that conditions were deteriorating and 40,000 additional troops were needed as the minimum to quell the insurgency.

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