Gen. Stanley McChrystal, right, arrives at a U.S. base in Logar Province, Afghanistan, last month.

Barbara Starr
CNN Pentagon Correspondent

President Obama’s national security team is now intensively looking at alternative strategies for the war in Afghanistan they hope to present to the President within the next three weeks, a senior U.S. official familiar with the highly confidential discussions told CNN Wednesday.

The alternatives would not require the tens of thousands of additional troops General Stanley McChrystal says would be needed to carry out the counterinsurgency called for by the President back in March. Several sources tell CNN McChrystal’s assessment—which only offered the single option of a full counterinsurgency effort—essentially put the President in the position of all or nothing acceptance. Officials privately describe the situation as the president being ‘in a box,” and the situation as messy.

According to this official, one alternative being discussed inside the Administration is to continue current military operations for the next year, but also accelerate reconciliation with Taliban leaders and warlords. In addition, the alternative calls for getting an agreement to base a significant U.S military intelligence gathering operations inside Afghanistan to keep watch for any re-emergence of Al Qaeda.  The official describes this as a “hybrid” strategy somewhat short of pure counterinsurgency but with more capability than a counter terrorism strategy which would involve a limited number of troops only targeting Al Qaeda.

Despite public statements that the internal discussions are simply an effort to make sure the current strategy is the correct one, this official and others describe to CNN a view that the current debate reflects an urgent scramble to give the President new options in the wake of the McChrystal report which suggested the mission in Afghanistan would fail without more troops, resources, and a major new U.S. commitment after eight years of war.

This official also described a growing sense of urgency with each day that the Afghan presidential election remains undecided. The question of reconciling with Taliban leaders may depend in large part on there being a functioning government with even perceived legitimate power to undertake such an effort he said.

The official also said that its now expected General McChrystal will come back to Washington sometime in the weeks ahead to speak directly to the President and other NSC members about the situation in Afghanistan.

Even as this debate goes on, General McChyrstals request for more resources to combat the insurgency there will be sent to Washington in the next several days, according to Geoff Morrrell Pentagon press spokesman. McChrystal had previously been told by the Obama administration to delay presenting that force recommendation until he was asked for it, but Gates will now take the request and keep it confidential until decisions on strategy are made.

Morrell confirmed the requst is "analytical," rather than a detailed list of military units and pieces of equipment required. It will be a recommendation about what "resources" are needed to carry out the counterinsurgency strategy the general laid out in an assessment he
submitted to the Obama administration several weeks ago. In that report, McChrystal said more troops were required, as well as a significant and lengthy commitment to fighting the growing insurgency.

But the delay ordered by the administration for a specific troop request
has sparked controversy. "What I really don't understand ... is why you would tell your general in the field not to send his recommendations for the troop levels that are needed in order to implement a strategy which, according to the chairman of the Joint

Chiefs of Staff, was formulated last March," said Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, on Tuesday. "Any leader, I think, would want to get the maximum amount of information from your people you have given positions of responsibility," he added.

A senior U.S. military official confirmed that the White House is now
reviewing the whole idea of that counterinsurgency strategy that President Barack Obama approved in March. The official said that review is due to the rising violence in Afghanistan, the unresolved Afghan presidential election and the dire outlook presented by McChrystal.

In his assessment of the situation there, McChrystal warned that more
troops are needed within the next year or the war "will likely result in
failure," according to a copy of the 66-page document obtained by The
Washington Post.

"Failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum in the
near term (next 12 months) - while Afghan security capacity matures - risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible," U.S. and NATO commander McChrystal said in the document