US President Barack Obama is down to four strategic options as he nears a decision on whether to plunge thousands more troops into the Afghan war, the White House said. Obama will sift through the four approaches on Wednesday in his latest meeting with top military brass and his national security team, as his exhaustive review of the US posture in Afghanistan draws to a close. The president will have an opportunity to discuss four options with his national security team tomorrow, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday. Gibbs, however, declined to offer details of the various options but he mocked a flurry of reports and leaks suggesting Obama had already decided to send up to 40,000 more troops to war, after commander General Stanley McChrystal warned in September US strategy was failing. Obama is not expected to make a final choice on his options in Afghanistan until at least the end of next week when he returns from a trip to Asia, though the White House says the review is at a pivotal stage. The sourcing of leaked reports carried by several US news organizations was unclear, though some observers have suggested some constituencies within the Pentagon may be trying to lean on Obama. The White House has said that troop numbers are only one factor of Obama's review, which is designed to assess the entire US posture towards Afghanistan and Pakistan and political developments in both nations. McClatchy newspapers reported over the weekend that Obama was leaning toward sending more than 30,000 troops, and CBS television reported late Monday that the president had tentatively decided on deploying close to 40,000. Some military officials have expressed frustration at the pace of Obama's deliberations over two months, while Republicans have accused the president of dithering. McChrystal has asked for tens of thousands of additional troops to fight a deadly insurgency by Taliban militants and Al-Qaeda linked groups. He presented a number of options in a troop request to the president, including a maximum of 80,000 troops, another option of about 40,000 and a third scenario with some 20,000, according to US media. There are more than 100,000 NATO-led troops now stationed in Afghanistan, including nearly 68,000 American forces.
