US President Barack Obama will likely announce his decision on a pending buildup of US troops in Afghanistan next week, the White House said Monday.?
Such a decision may come as early as "sometime next week", White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters at his daily press briefing.
Meanwhile, Obama will meet Monday night with his national security team for a final time on Afghan strategy , the spokesman said.
At the meeting, the president will try to find answers to some final questions, including ones about the best exit strategy, he said.
"He still needs to know not just how we get people there, but how we get people out," Gibbs added.
The meeting is the ninth of its kind since September when Stanley McChrystal, the top US commander in Afghanistan called for roughly 40,000 more troops.
Obama has since been under pressure to make a decision on troop levels and has faced criticism from Republicans who urges a quick decision and anti-war Democrats who oppose any troop increase.
US media reports said Obama is weighing three options on the troop decision.
While each option proposes different level of troop increase, what really matters is how to fight the war under these options, analysts said.