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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Obama 'to increase Afghan force' | Obama 'to increase Afghan force' |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| US President Barack Obama plans to send an extra 4,000 US troops to Afghanistan to help train the Afghan security forces, US officials say. | US President Barack Obama plans to send an extra 4,000 US troops to Afghanistan to help train the Afghan security forces, US officials say. |
| They will reportedly be deployed later this year and come in addition to 17,000 troops already due to reinforce the 38,000 on the ground. | They will reportedly be deployed later this year and come in addition to 17,000 troops already due to reinforce the 38,000 on the ground. |
| US Senator Carl Levin said the latest extra troops could be deployed in June. | US Senator Carl Levin said the latest extra troops could be deployed in June. |
| Mr Obama is expected to announce the extra commitment on Friday when he outlines his new Afghanistan strategy. | Mr Obama is expected to announce the extra commitment on Friday when he outlines his new Afghanistan strategy. |
| Mr Levin was speaking outside the Senate after senators were briefed about Mr Obama's new strategy. | Mr Levin was speaking outside the Senate after senators were briefed about Mr Obama's new strategy. |
| "There is a significant additional training group that will be going I think in June," he told reporters. | "There is a significant additional training group that will be going I think in June," he told reporters. |
| Asked if the number of American trainers was 4,000, he replied: "I won't disagree with that." | Asked if the number of American trainers was 4,000, he replied: "I won't disagree with that." |
| Mr Obama said earlier in the week that he was seeking "an exit strategy". | Mr Obama said earlier in the week that he was seeking "an exit strategy". |
| "There's got to be a sense that this is not a perpetual drift," he told US TV channel CBS. | "There's got to be a sense that this is not a perpetual drift," he told US TV channel CBS. |
| 'New idea' | |
| The broad outlines of Mr Obama's new strategy are already clear, the BBC's Adam Brookes reports. | |
| The war will continue for some time to come and the US will encourage Nato allies to step up their military effort too while non-Nato countries will be asked to at least not oppose it. | |
| Washington will also try to draw Afghanistan policy and Pakistan policy into a coherent whole, our correspondent says. | |
| Eventually, the US hopes Afghan security forces will take over security operations and allow foreign forces to draw down. | |
| Our correspondent adds that Mr Obama may also seek, after seven years of operations, to explain America's goals. | |
| As the "Global War on Terror" fades from our lexicon, he may set out a unifying idea to replace it, Adam Brookes says. |