Americans won't accept a 'long slog' in Afghanistan war, Gates says

The Defense secretary says forces must show progress in a year or risk losing public support, especially as casualties mount, with at least 50 U.S. and NATO deaths in July, the deadliest month yet.

By Julian E. Barnes
LA Times

4:47 PM PDT, July 18, 2009

Reporting from Washington — After eight years, U.S.-led forces must show progress in Afghanistan by next summer to avoid public perception that the conflict has become unwinnable, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in a sharp critique of the war effort.

Gates said that victory was a "long-term prospect" under any scenario and that the U.S. would not win the war in a year's time. However, U.S. forces must begin to turn the situation around in a year, he said, or face the likely loss of public support.

"After the Iraq experience, nobody is prepared to have a long slog where it is not apparent we are making headway," Gates said in an interview. "The troops are tired, the American people are pretty tired."

Deep public unhappiness with the war in Iraq helped sink President George W. Bush's approval ratings, making him the most unpopular president in recent history, according to some surveys.

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