WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama's top defense and diplomacy advisors said the United States retains the Afghanistan war goal that he outlined just two months into his presidency - to sideline Al-Qaida - but changing circumstances require a reassessment of how to get there.

A "snap decision" on whether to add more US troops would be counterproductive, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said on Monday.

Whatever the president decides, the military will salute, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.