Gates has forwarded a recommendation to the White House in prelude to discussions with President George W. Bush and other top administration officials, the officials said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates has recommended that additional troops be sent to Afghanistan to augment NATO forces, but no final decision has been made on the deployment, defense officials said on Monday.
Gates has forwarded a recommendation to the White House in prelude to discussions with President George W. Bush and other top administration officials, the officials said.
But the officials said Gates would not issue a deployment order until after briefing Bush, who is visiting the Middle East until Wednesday.
"A recommendation has been forwarded for discussion. But at this point, no decision has been made. We're still waiting," Pentagon spokesman Army Lt. Col. Mark Wright told Reuters.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Wright declined to discuss details of the recommendation.
(Reporting by David Morgan, editing by David Alexander)
