The surge could involve more than 30,000 additional troops and last as long as two years, sources were quoted as saying. That could bring the total number of U.S. troops in Iraq to at least 164,000, the highest total since the war started in March 2003.

The White House insisted that no decisions had yet been made, and that the president continued to weigh his options.

The plan for more troops likely would be an attempt to stabilize Baghdad and Anbar province in western Iraq, a last-ditch attempt to stabilize the heart of Iraq, the ABC News report said.

Meanwhile, former defense secretary William Perry warned Saturday that U.S. forces would be trapped in a "quagmire" if the United States continued its current course in Iraq.

In the Democratic weekly radio address, he said the term "quagmire" recalled "one of the saddest periods in American history."

"But I believe that is likely to happen if we stay the course in Iraq," he said.

Perry called on the Bush administration to adopt the recommendations made by the congressionally-commissioned Iraq Study Group, which included starting withdrawing U.S. combat troops from Iraq in early 2008, and strengthening the training of Iraqi forces.