美国国防部长盖茨在阿富汗首都喀布尔说，阿富汗和国际部队前面还有“艰巨的战斗”。星期一在对媒体发表讲话时，盖茨称赞北约最近取得的进展，包括重新夺回了塔利班盘踞的南部城市马尔贾镇。但是，在有记者问到马尔贾镇攻势以及巴基斯坦最近逮捕一名塔利班高级指挥官是否对阿富汗战场产生显著影响时，盖茨警告人们不要“过于看重”具体的势态发展，他警告说，未来还有“艰难的日子”。
他说，整体而言，阿富汗的局势仍然相当严峻，但已经不再恶化。驻阿富汗美军最高指挥官麦克里斯特尔将军说，南部的联军将在未来几个月逐渐集结，以便拿下坎大哈。坎大哈是塔利班在南部老巢的一个主要城市。
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is in Kabul, where he says Afghan and international troops have “hard fighting” ahead of them. Speaking to reporters Monday, Gates praised recent NATO gains, including the takeover of the southern Taliban-held town of Marjah. But when asked if the Marjah offensive and the recent capture of senior Taliban commanders in Pakistan are having a noticeable impact on the Afghan battlefield, he warned against “reading too much” into specific developments and warned of “hard days” ahead.
He said that overall, the situation in Afghanistan remains serious, but it has stopped deteriorating. The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, says allied forces in the south will gradually mass over the coming months to secure Kandahar, a key city in the Taliban’s traditional southern stronghold.