Obama to meet military brass on Afghanistan

Obama invited the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the heads of the branches of the US armed services, to the secure White House Situation Room to hear their input on his war plan and deliberations on troop numbers, officials said.

He will hold the meeting a day after his poignant visit to witness the return to home soil of fallen Americans from Afghanistan, after which he said the heavy sacrifice of US soldiers was weighing on his decision-making.

"It was a sobering reminder of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day," Obama said in the Oval Office, hours after watching remains of 18 US servicemen flown home.

"Obviously the burden that both our troops and our families bear in any wartime situation is going to bear on how I see these conflicts.

"And it is something that I think about each and every day," Obama said, after the visit to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.