Obama meets war cabinet on Afghanistan

24 Nov 2009, 6:41 am   -   Source: AAP
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Barack Obama will meet with his war cabinet for "possibly" the last time before deciding whether to dispatch more troops to Afghanistan, an official said.

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US President Barack Obama will meet with his war cabinet on Monday for "possibly" the last time before deciding whether to dispatch tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan, an official said.

The meeting comes as Obama weighs a request from his top commander in Afghanistan for up to 40,000 more US troops to support the war effort there.

Among the top administration officials expected to attend the meeting at 8pm local time (1200 AEDT) are Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The meeting will be the ninth time Obama has met with his national security team as part of a review of Afghanistan strategy since August.

Thanksgiving possibility

An administration official said it would "possibly" be the last time Obama will consult his team before announcing the new Afghanistan strategy, though he cautioned "that's not something we can say definitively".

Last week, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters that any decision on whether to boost the US troop commitment in Afghanistan would come after the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanksgiving falls this year on Thursday, November 26 and Americans traditionally observe a Thursday-to-Sunday long weekend.

But Obama also made it clear in interviews as he travelled in Asia that an announcement was on the horizon, telling reporters a decision would be made "in the coming weeks."

The top US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has requested up to 40,000 more US troops, warning the conflict could be lost within a year without reinforcements.

But Obama faces opposition from his own Democratic party and many Americans to dispatching more US troops to the conflict now in its ninth year.

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