Obama war council weighs Afghan troop boost

By Matt Spetalnick and Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and his war council weighed final options for a new Afghanistan strategy on Wednesday, as a proposed 30,000-plus troop increase gained favour among top advisers, officials said.

Facing an American public increasingly sceptical about the eight-year-old war, the White House insists Obama is still examining four different options and is weeks away from making a decision.

Officials have described proposals that would call for deeper U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan to confront a resurgent Taliban and its al Qaeda allies. The options differ in the number of extra troops to be sent.

Obama held the 2-1/2-hour review, the eighth in a series of such meetings, as a new opinion poll showed a growing number of Americans believe the war in Afghanistan is not going well and disapprove of his handling of the situation.

Record combat deaths have eroded U.S. public support and sending more troops could become a political liability for Obama ahead of congressional elections next year.

Among the strategy options Obama is considering, administration officials said there was growing support among his top advisers, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Mike Mullen, for deploying 30,000 or more additional troops.

At the low end of the spectrum, one plan would add 20,000-plus troops. Another would embrace a request by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, for the 40,000 extra troops he says are needed to avert failure, the officials said.

It remains unclear where Obama stands. He will continue to mull his decision during a nine-day trip to Asia starting on Thursday.