Washington, September 04: As an increasing number of Americans appear to be turning against the war in Afghanistan, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates today said the time was not yet right for the US to get out of the war-ravaged country.
“I absolutely do not think it is time to get out of Afghanistan,” Gates said at a joint Pentagon news briefing with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen.
“In the context of the President’s goal of disrupting, dismantling and destroying al Qaeda, we seek an Afghanistan that is our partner in that endeavour and that can sustain that endeavour after we’re gone,” he said.
He said intelligence continues to support that al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates like Taliban still targeted America and other Western countries.
–PTI