Gates, Clinton to be questioned on Afghan strategy

WASHINGTON, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Defense and State Secretaries Robert Gates and Hillary Clinton will be questioned by lawmakers next week on U.S. President Barack Obama's recently-announced new strategy for Afghanistan.

They will face lawmakers from two House subcommittees that controls the budgets of Defense and State Departments, the Washington Post. com quoted congressional source as saying on Thursday.

Obama delivered a prime-time speech to the nation on Dec. 1, laying out a strategy which calls for sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan and starting pulling out U.S. forces in July 2011.

The additional deployment will cost 30 billion U.S. dollars based on the Pentagon's own estimate.

Most Democrats support the president's decision but are concerned about the costs at a time when the U.S. economy is still not out of the woods.

The testimony of Gates and Clinton will be focused on the costs of the troop buildup, but analysts said the Congress is unlikely to deny the administration's request for additional war funding.