Wire: Rendezvous With Indecision, Obama Holds Another White House Meeting on Afghanistan

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30, 2009 -- Newswire services this morning reported that President Barack Obama is consulting with top military officials yet again on Friday as he considers whether to send additional forces to Afghanistan.

Obama will meet at the White House with the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

This will be the seventh reported high level meeting the president has held on his Afghan strategy, the first including the Joint Chiefs.

Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said the meeting comes as the president reaches the "end stage" of his decision-making process, according to a report from VOA News.

Obama has spent two months reviewing strategy options for the war in Afghanistan, including a request from the top U.S. commander in the country, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, for additional troops.

The White House has said Obama will likely wait until after the November 7 Afghan presidential run-off election before announcing a decision.

In Afghanistan Friday, officials say at least eight civilians were killed when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

October has been the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Afghanistan since the start of the war in 2001, Pentagon officials said.

At least 56 U.S. soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in October, topping the previous high of 51 deaths in August, officials said.

(Report from newswire sources.)