Wire: Rendezvous With Indecision, Official Says Obama Nixes All Current Afghan Options

Off the Wire:

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11, 2009 -- Newswire services this evening reported that President Barack Obama does not plan to accept any of the Afghanistan war options presented by his national security team, looking instead at clarifying how and when U.S. troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government, a senior administration official said Wednesday.

That move follows reservations about a possible troop buildup expressed by the U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, according to a second top administration official. The Associated Press reported this evening that, in a strongly worded classified communications to Washington, Eikenberry said he had misgivings about sending in new troops while there are still so many questions about the leadership of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Obama and the White House continues to promise a revamped war strategy. AP said that the decision would now likely wait until after the president returns from a trip to Asia that ends on Nov. 19.

After months of deliberations, the president raised new questions at a meeting Wednesday that could alter how many additional troops are sent to Afghanistan and what the timeline would be for their presence in the war zone, according to the official, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.

(Report from newswire sources.)