Obama says will "finish the job" in Afghanistan

By Jeff Mason and Adam Entous

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he will announce his decision soon to send more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in an effort to "finish the job" of an unpopular and costly eight-year war.

Obama, at a joint news conference with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, spoke a day after the final meeting of his war council as he concludes a three-month strategic review process that Republican critics have called dithering.

Influential voices in Obama's national security cabinet, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and military chiefs, favor a U.S. troop increase of 30,000-plus, officials said. The final number could reach 35,000 once U.S. trainers are factored in, but estimates on the number of trainers vary widely.

Obama would not be drawn out on specifics but said he would have an announcement on how to proceed after this week's Thanksgiving holiday. He is expected to give a television address next Tuesday evening.

"After eight years, some of those years in which we did not have, I think, either the resources or the strategy to get the job done, it is my intention to finish the job," Obama said.

"I will be making an announcement to the American people about how we intend to move forward. I will be doing so shortly," he said.

There are about 110,000 foreign troops, including 68,000 U.S. soldiers, in Afghanistan fighting the Taliban. War spending in Afghanistan has more than doubled over the last year and reached $6.7 billion in June alone.

Obama has been reviewing war strategy since Army General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said in a report that conditions were deteriorating and 40,000 additional troops were needed to quell the insurgency.