The US commander in Afghanistan has stressed the need for a revised strategy in the eight-year-old war.
Delivering his long-awaited strategic review to US and NATO commanders, US Army General Stanley McChrystal said the war was 'in a serious state'.
Officials have given no indication in public as to whether General McChrystal will ask for even more reinforcements to carry out his new strategy.
General McChrystal currently commands 103,000 troops in Afghanistan, including 63,000 from the US, more than half of whom arrived this year as part of an escalation strategy begun under outgoing President George W Bush and ramped up under President Barack Obama.
The existing force is already set to rise to 110,000 by the end of this year.
The review is expected to spell out a completely revised approach to conducting the war, which Mr Obama considers the main foreign policy priority of his young US presidency.
'The situation in Afghanistan is serious, but success is achievable and demands a revised implementation strategy, commitment and resolve, and increased unity of effort,' Mr McChrystal said in a statement announcing the review was ready.
The US Army General has been working on the review since Mr Obama put him in charge of the war in June.
His review, sent to the US military's Central Command responsible for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and to NATO headquarters in Brussels, is not expected to make firm recommendations about future troop strength yet.
However, military officials have said it will form the basis for a decision about force size which could be taken within weeks.
The report comes at a time when Afghanistan is stuck in political limbo, with the outcome as yet unclear from the presidential election.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has maintained a lead over his main rival Abdullah Abdullah in partial election returns.
However, Mr Karzai still fell short of the outright majority needed to avoid a run-off.
With results from nearly half of polling stations counted in the 20 August election, Mr Karzai held 45.9% of the vote, against 33.3% for Mr Abdullah.
Mr Abdullah has accused the authorities of widespread electoral fraud.
