Obama to brave lawmakers' ire on Afghanistan

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US President Barack Obama will confront a building political storm over Afghanistan on Tuesday, as he talks through his dilemma over future war strategy with leading figures in Congress.

Obama is under intense pressure to offer lawmakers of both parties more detail on his evolving internal review of Afghanistan policy, as debate heats up on the unpopular war following a spike in US troop deaths.

The afternoon talks will "walk (lawmakers) through where we are in (the) process and solicit their views," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said, cautioning that Obama was still far from deciding a new strategy. Related article: US lawmakers

Temperatures in Washington are flaring as each party advances conflicting approaches. War commander General Stanley McChrystal meanwhile apparently irked the White House by openly campaigning for more troops.

Obama, who came to power vowing to halt one war -- in Iraq -- is facing stiff opposition from some fellow Democrats to the idea of escalating another -- in Afghanistan.

But hawkish Republicans are also piling pressure on the president, demanding he quickly meet McChrystal's reported request for 40,000 more troops.

Several senior Democrats, including powerful House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi warn there is little appetite among their ranks for adding to the 68,000 US troops who will be in Afghanistan by late this year.

Other senior Democrats, including the powerful head of the Senate Armed Services committee Carl Levin, want the training of Afghan forces to be sped up before more US troops are poured into the fight.

A group of Democratic House lawmakers have meanwhile introduced legislation seeking to block funds for more troops.

"History tells us that there will not be a military-first solution to the situation in Afghanistan," said one of the measure's co-sponsors, Representative Barbara Lee.

One plan reportedly under consideration is the possible shelving of mass counter-insurgency operations against the Taliban in favor of the use of more drones and air attacks against Al-Qaeda. Related article: Afghan elections

But Repulican Senator Lindsey Graham and former party presidential candidate John McCain are leading the charge for more troops -- much as they did before ex-president George W. Bush's "surge" strategy in Iraq.

"A counterterrorism strategy, if adopted, would be the biggest strategic blunder post-9/11," Graham said on Fox News Sunday.

McCain on Monday argued on Fox Business network against the counter-terrorism stance -- reportedly being advocated in Obama administration war councils by Vice President Joe Biden.

"Anybody that believes that you can hand over the country or significant parts of the country over to the Taliban and not have to worry about Al-Qaeda returning .... has no understanding of the region, nor of the nature of the enemy."

One option definitively ruled out, according to the White House is withdrawal from Afghanistan, the scene of an eight-year conflict after the war-torn nation hosted the masterminds of the September 11 attacks in 2001.

"That's not something that has ever been entertained," Gibbs said Monday.

"That's not a decision that's on the table to make."

Tuesday's meeting forms part of Obama's concentrated deliberations designed to rescue a US mission which McChrystal warns could be lost within a year without more troops.

The White House says making a decision on sending more troops, before arriving at a new strategy, could be catastrophic.

In his next meetings on the war, Obama will see top military brass, and top civilian advisors like Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior intelligence figures in the White House Situation Room on Wednesday and Friday, following a previous session last week.

McChrystal, who was summoned to meet Obama on Air Force One in Denmark last week, apparently irritated the administration by warning time was running short for a decision in a recent speech in London.

Gates responded Monday that US military officers and civilians advising Obama should keep their views private. (AFP)

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