Obama not to travel to Afghanistan before making final troop decision

President Barack Obama will not travel to Afghanistan prior to making his decision about whether to deploy more troops there, the White House revealed Tuesday.

Nevertheless, the president is likely to announce that decision in some form of speech to the American people, press secretary Robert Gibbs added during Tuesday's press briefing, though he did not reveal whether that meant the president planned to address the country or a joint session of Congress in prime time.

"I know the president has told us, not necessarily as it relates to some venue or some speech, that it is important for the American people to understand why he made the decision that he's made," Gibbs said.

"I anticipate the president will spend some time walking the American people through the process that we've undertaken and the decisions ... he's made along the way to come to the ultimate conclusion," he added.

However, both points are likely to anger the president's harshest critics, some of whom believe he should visit the troops before he makes policy concerning them, and some of whom lament his media overexposure.

Still, Gibbs said Tuesday the president would meet again with the Joint Chiefs of Staff later this week or next week to discuss strategy options, but he did not specify when the president might come to a decision about troop levels.