Washington ( CNN ) -- The Obama administration is considering the possibility of removing all U.S. troops in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission officially finishes at the end of 2014 , White House officials said Tuesday . The comments by Ben Rhodes , the White House 's deputy national security adviser , come as the Pentagon and White House mull over the number of troops that could be left in Afghanistan after 2014 to fight insurgents and train Afghan security forces . Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President Obama are scheduled to meet on Friday in Washington . Presidents look to future of Afghanistan . Rhodes said the administration is considering a range of options , with one scenario having no U.S. troops there . The range , according to defense officials , had until recently been between 6,000 and 15,000 U.S. troops possibly remaining in the country , based on an assessment by the U.S. top commander in Afghanistan , Gen. John Allen . `` We have an objective of making sure there 's no safe haven for al Qaeda within Afghanistan and making sure that the Afghan government has a security force that is sufficient , again , to assure the stability of the Afghan government and the denial of that safe haven , '' Rhodes said . `` That 's what causes us to look for different potential troop numbers or not having potential troops in the country , '' he continued . Rhodes said there were no expectations of any deal on post-2014 troop levels during the Karzai visit , and he said it could be months before any decision was made . Suicide bombing kills 5 . The White House remains committed to ensuring Afghanistan does not return to its status as a safe haven for Al Qaeda , Rhodes said . `` The president does not view these negotiations as having a goal of keeping U.S. troops in Afghanistan , '' he said . `` And we 're guided by the shared missions that we 've agreed to with the Afghans , the training and equipping of their forces , and counterterrorism . '' But the United States also is insistent on legal protection for any troops in Afghanistan after 2014 . If there is no agreement on that between the United States and Karzai between now and the end of 2014 , then it could lead to a similar situation for the United States as when it left Iraq . The refusal by the Iraqi government to extend legal protections for U.S. troops after the end of the war in Iraq was a major reason the United States left the country with no residual military training force . But Karzai has said he would like for U.S. troops to remain after the end of the NATO mission . He also has been highly critical of the troops over the years , following incidents in which U.S. forces have killed civilians . Attack takes life of British soldier . U.S. defense officials are playing a wait-and-see game on what the Karzai visit will produce . As one defense official told CNN on Monday about the Afghan president , `` It 's Karzai ; who knows what he will want on any given day ? ''
Administration mulls how many troops to leave in country after major pullout . Obama to meet Friday with Afghan President Hamid Karzai . U.S. seeks legal protection for small number of troops left behind . Lack of legal agreement prompted complete pullout from Iraq .