U.S. President Barack Obama met with his national security team at the White House Wednesday to consider whether to increase the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

A U.S. official said after the meeting Mr. Obama wanted to make clear to the Kabul government that the U.S. commitment in Afghanistan is not "open-ended."

The White House said earlier Mr. Obama is considering four options for Afghanistan to turn around the eight-year-old war. But the official stressed that the president has not made a decision about the options presented.

Earlier Wednesday, General David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. Central Command, told CNN he believes that a decision on sending more U.S. troops to Afghanistan is near.

Meanwhile, two major U.S. newspapers reported the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, expressed his reservations about deploying additional troops to the country.

The Washington Post and The New York Times quote senior U.S. officials as saying Ambassador Eikenberry sent two classified cables to Washington last week, in which he expressed his opposition to the plan.

His position puts him in stark opposition to General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, who has requested 40,000 more troops.

Eikenberry served as the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007 and retired from the military earlier this year. He was appointed ambassador to Afghanistan by Mr. Obama. 

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