President Barack Obama is unlikely to announce his new Afghanistan policy before he returns from an upcoming trip to Asia, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday.

The president will depart Thursday for Japan in what will be the first stop of a nine-day trip. Obama is leaving for Asia one day later than originally planned, departing Thursday instead of Wednesday so he can attend a memorial service Tuesday for the victims of the Fort Hood, Texas, massacre.

Obama will hold yet another strategy session on his policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan this week.