KABUL (AP) – The military may not finish its surge of 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan until nearly a year from now, a senior United States commander said Monday — a slower pace than President Barack Obama has described.

The White House insisted it was sticking with a goal of completing the buildup by late summer.

The reinforcements begin arriving next week, and the bulk of the troops are scheduled to be in Afghanistan by the end of summer. But it will probably be nine to 11 months before all the troops are in place, Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez said.

The timing is important. The sooner the full complement of 30,000 can get there, the sooner the added firepower might have an effect on turning around the war and creating conditions that will allow the Pentagon to proceed with Obama’s promise to begin withdrawing troops in July 2011.

“We’re still working the speed at which they can come in, and so we’ll see how much faster that they can come in,” said Rodriguez, the second-highest US commander in Afghanistan.

Military officials had been hinting in recent weeks that the escalation might take slightly longer than the summer goal, suggesting the administration’s announcement of such a rapid escalation might not be entirely firm.