Obama narrows Afghan choices to four

The White House said Tuesday that US President Barack Obama's options on a pending buildup of US troops in Afghanistan have been narrowed down to four.

US military officials said the options involve several ways the president could employ additional US forces next year.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama will discuss the four scenarios with his national security team on Wednesday. But Gibbs declined to give details on those options, and did not say when the president will make a final choice.

Obama must decide whether to grant a request by top US commander in Afghanistan Stanley McChrystal to commit 40,000 additional troops to the fight.

That would substantially expand the 68,000-strong US force in the country. US media and analysts do not expect Obama to make the Afghan troop decision until he returns from a trip to Asia at the end of next week.