WASHINGTON — The Obama administration sent what many lawmakers saw as vague and sometimes confusing signals Wednesday about its intentions in Afghanistan, leaving members of Congress unsure how to proceed as they consider his plan to deploy 30,000 more American troops there.

President Barack Obama had said Tuesday night that U.S. troops would begin leaving Afghanistan in July 2011, but under grilling Wednesday at the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary Robert Gates suggested that date could change. He said that “we will evaluate … whether we believe we will be able to meet that objective” when the president and his top aides conduct an official review of the war next December.

While Obama said his troop buildup would last 18 months, Gates said it might last “18-24 months.”

Further, while the president specified 30,000 as the number of additional troops to be sent, U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry said Wednesday at a news conference there that as many as 35,000 more troops were being deployed.

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