Washington - With President Barack Obama on the eve of unveiling his revised strategy for Afghanistan, the White House is making it clear that he wants a plan for eventual withdraw of US forces even as many more troops may be deployed in the near future. Obama has been conducting a comprehensive review of the dire situation in Afghanistan and since September has held 10 meetings with his war council to weigh various options to intensify the counterinsurgency against the Taliban.
Obama's long-awaited decision could be a pivotal moment for his young presidency and is expected on Tuesday evening, when he will give a primetime address from the Army's West Point Military Academy in New York. The focus of speculation and leaked information to the media is whether he will grant the request of his top commander in Afghanistan for an additional 40,000 troops.
US media reports have stated Obama will approve 34,000 more troops. But with the war going badly and public support for the campaign slipping, the White House wants to assure Americans that Obama is also insisting on an exit strategy.
"Throughout this process, the president has repeatedly pushed and prodded not simply for ... how are we going to get a certain number of troops in, but ... what has to be implemented ultimately to get them out," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday.
"We are in year nine of our efforts in Afghanistan. We are not going to be there another eight or nine years."
For Obama, winning the war in Afghanistan and wiping out the Taliban and al-Qaeda is at the top of his national security agenda and was a key focus of his presidential campaign. Obama said on Tuesday that remains his goal while accusing his predecessor, George W Bush, of neglecting the conflict in Afghanistan.
"After eight years - some of those years in which we did not have, I think, either the resources or the strategy to get the job done - it is my intention to finish the job," Obama said.
"And I feel very confident that when the American people hear a clear rationale for what we are doing there, and how we intend to achieve our goals, that they will be supportive."
How to accomplish those goals has been a divisive issue among some of his top advisors, who are expected to appear before Congress shortly after the new strategy has been rolled out. Among those expected to testify are US ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, and the top military commander there, General Stanley McChrystal.
Eikenberry reportedly argued against McChrystal's troop request, fearing that an immediate surge of troops would could make recently re-elected Afghan President Hamid Karzai too comfortable, thereby giving him little reason to clean up his government's widespread corruption, which has weakened Kabul's credibility with the Afghan people.
McChrystal has publicly warned that with Taliban gains in many parts of the country, the US-led and NATO-led mission would be doomed to fail without troop reinforcements.
Part of his administration's strategy since he took office has been to beef up the civilian side of the mission, which includes building up the Afghan government, infrastructure and economy, while pressing Karzai to address graft.
There are about 68,000 US troops already in Afghanistan, plus thousands more from NATO allies. The Pentagon signalled this week that if Obama increases the US presence, he will ask NATO members - who have been reluctant so far - to offer more contributions.
"Clearly, if the president decides to commit additional forces to Afghanistan, there would be an expectation that our allies would also commit additional forces," spokesman Geoff Morrell said.
