General David H. Petraeus, commanding US-NATO forces in Afghanistan, says the nine-year-old counter-insurgency operations in Afghanistan were "under-resourced," said reports Tuesday.
Fielding questions on NATO's in-house TV channel, he also predicted that the future campaign would be "slow and hard-fought."
He said the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not have "the organization necessary" in place until last year when a new war policy was tried out.
But he said that the planned surge involving ISAF and Afghan forces would be completed as per schedule.
"For the first time, we will then have the tools, and what is required in place to carry out the kind of campaign that (is) necessary here with our Afghan partners, " the four-star General said.
He counseled patience over the growing frustration being felt in America and Europe over the continuing engagement in the war-ravaged South-west Asian country.
"It is understandable that there is impatience and a desire to see progress right now, but the nature of these endeavors is such that progress is slow, it is hard-fought," he cautioned.
Petraeus who echoed US President Barack Obama's promise regarding a complete pull-out from Afghanistan, however, said that it would depend on ground realities.
"July 2011 is a time when a process begins, the pace of which is determined by conditions on the ground. There has been a misinterpretation that this is when we race for the exits and find a light switch to turn them out before we leave the room. And that is not the case," he added.
It was in the wake of the resignation of General Stanley McChrystal following his criticism of the Obama administration that Petraeus assumed charge, a lesser post from being the Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Central Command.
A widely-respected soldier, Petraeus is credited with turning around the conflict in Iraq.
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