WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration is heading into a
second week of intensive negotiations over its evolving Afghan
strategy.

President Barack Obama's senior advisers are set to meet twice
this week to debate the strategy. They'll be juggling political
pressure from the left to scale back combat troops with arguments
from military leaders that additional forces are needed to secure
the country and enable government and economic development
advancements.

A top U.S. commander's public plea for more troops in
Afghanistan prompted a mild rebuke from the White House national
security adviser, who was on the Sunday news shows.

James Jones says that decisions on how best to stabilize
Afghanistan and beat back the insurgency must extend beyond troop
levels to development and governance.

Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in
Afghanistan, has asked for up to 40,000 more troops.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)