in Afghanistan and Pakistan . That also does not include training , and it does n't include the maintaining of a security force . It 's very , very , very expensive . '' But , Gibbs added , `` I think the president , throughout this process , has talked about the cost in terms of American lives and in terms of the cost to our treasury , and I think he 'll continue to talk about it . '' The president ordered more than 20,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in March . Gen. Stanley McChrystal , the U.S. commander in Afghanistan , reportedly has called for up to 40,000 more to wage a counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban , the Islamic militia originally ousted by U.S. military action in 2001 . Obama has weighed several options for bolstering the American contingent , ranging from sending a few thousand troops to the 40,000 McChrystal requested . A defense official told CNN earlier this week the Pentagon is making detailed plans to send about 34,000 more troops to Afghanistan in anticipation of Obama 's decision on the 8-year-old war . There had been no final word on Obama 's decision
Washington -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- President Obama will announce the U.S. troop strategy for Afghanistan in a speech at 8 p.m. ET Tuesday at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point , New York , White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday . In the speech , Obama will explain why the United States is in Afghanistan , its interests there and his decision-making process , Gibbs said , but `` the president does not see this as an open-ended engagement . `` Our time there will be limited , and I think that 's important for people to understand , '' he said . `` We are in year nine '' in Afghanistan , Gibbs told reporters . `` We 're not going to be there another eight or nine years . '' Obama will meet with members of Congress at the White House on Tuesday afternoon before the speech . Cost issues are among the topics the president will address , Gibbs said . `` It 's a million dollars a troop for a year , '' he said . `` Ten thousand troops is $ 10 billion . That 's in addition to what we already spend