Officials in the Obama adminstration are pushing for a dramatically reduced force in Afghanistan after 2014.

Some say as little as 2,500 troops should remain in the country after the U.S. pullout. That's significantly less than the 10,000-30,000 force discussed last year. They even proposed leaving no troops at all.

"The U.S. does not have an inherent objective of 'X' number of troops in Afghanistan," Ben Rhodes, a White House deputy national security adviser, explained.

"We have an objective of making sure there is no safe haven for al Qaeda in Afghanistan and making sure that the Afghan government has a security force that is sufficient to ensure the stability of the Afghan government," he said.

Military officials say such a small force isn't enough to continue training Afghan police and soldiers or to prevent al Qaeda from making a comeback in Afghanistan.