The president, ahead of a televised speech laying out his new war plan, also upped pressure on NATO allies for more troops, and cautioned that Afghans must "ultimately" take responsibility for their conflict-ravaged country.

But Obama was set to stop short of setting a solid deadline for a full US withdrawal from a war many of his supporters fear could be a Vietnam-style quagmire that could scupper his presidency.

"The 30,000 additional troops that I am announcing tonight will deploy in the first part of 2010 -- the fastest pace possible," Obama said, in advance excerpts of the speech at the US Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Obama, seeking to redefine the war, for a nation dismayed by rising combat deaths, said the fresh troops would target the resurgent Taliban insurgency, secure key population centers and train the Afghan military.

But he warned the US mission in Afghanistan would not be open ended, saying a drawdown of American might in the country would begin by July 2011, sending a clear message to Afghan leaders and voters and lawmakers at home.

Officials said on condition to anonymity that the pace of the withdrawal and the eventual full exit strategy, would depend on conditions on the ground.

"This is the beginning of a process that is not yet defined in terms of the length of the process nor the endpoint," an official said.

The president, in a clear call for more support from US allies, said the effort to successfully end the war launched after the September 11 attacks in 2001, was a test of NATO credibility and common global security efforts.

"Some have already provided additional troops, and we are confident that there will be further contributions in the days and weeks ahead," he said.

Obama chose an accelerated deployment of 30,000 troops within six months, after reasoning the Pentagon's initial request for a 12 to 18 month timeframe would be too slow given deteriorating security, another official told AFP.

Presidential aide David Axelrod added on CNN: "We feel that the sooner we get in there, we can stop the momentum of the Taliban, train up Afghan troops and begin to transfer authority, or responsibility for security there."

Opinion polls show sliding public support for the war, with more than 900 American soldiers killed in Afghanistan and October the deadliest month yet with 74 US combat deaths. Many more foreign troops and Afghans have died.

Late Monday, Obama laid out his new strategy in an hour-long video conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whose fraud-tainted re-election in August complicated Obama's strategy review.

Early on Tuesday, Obama called Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, officials said, arguing that a key part of the new strategy was to help Pakistan stabilize itself as it battles its own domestic insurgency.

Obama also briefed leaders of Britain, France, Germany, India, Poland and Russia, on his plans.

Despite Obama's call for more troops from US allies, France ruled out sending more combat troops, but said military trainers could be a possibility. Germany said it would not decide until after a London conference on Afghanistan on January 28.

Britain has already offered an extra 500 troops, Italy has said it will send an unspecified number, while Poland is considering deploying several hundred more soldiers.

Even with the US surge troops and more NATO soldiers, the deployment will fall short of the 40,000-strong extra forces requested by war commander General Stanley McChrystal when he warned the war could be lost without more soldiers.

But it will bring the US contingent in a war launched in the long-ago aftermath of the September 11 attacks in 2001 to more than 100,000 troops.

Before heading to West Point, and a major test of his presidential leadership, Obama held intense White House talks with a bi-partisan group of congressional leaders.

Some of the president's Democratic allies in Congress are resisting the surge, citing a lack of clarity in war aims and the huge cost of deployments at a time of deep economic blight.

The Republican leadership has demanded he satisfy the military's plea for more troops, and former vice president Dick Cheney accused Obama of "dithering" during his exhaustive policy review.

Democratic Senate Majority leader Harry Reid said Obama's new strategy would "strengthen the clarity and focus of our mission."

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