Petraeus calls strategy in Afghanistan sound

But after burrowing into operations here and traveling to the far reaches of this country, Petraeus has concluded that the US strategy to win the nearly nine-year-old war is “fundamentally sound.’’

In a wide-ranging, hourlong interview, he said he sees incipient signs of progress in parts of the volatile south, in initiatives to create community defense forces, and in nascent steps to reintegrate low-level insurgents who want to stop fighting. The interview is part of his campaign to convince an increasingly skeptical public that the American-led coalition can succeed, saying he had not come to Afghanistan to preside over a “graceful exit.’’

He also had interviews with The New York Times and “Meet the Press.’’

With public support for the war slipping and a White House review of the war looming in December, Petraeus said he is pushing the forces to proceed with alacrity. He remains supportive of President Obama’s decision to begin withdrawing troops next July, but he said it is far too early to determine the size of the drawdown.

“We are doing everything we can to achieve progress as rapidly as we can without rushing to failure,’’ Petraeus said at NATO headquarters in Kabul. “We’re keenly aware that this has been ongoing for approaching nine years. We fully appreciate the impatience in some quarters.’’

But he warned against expecting quick results in a campaign that involves building Afghan government and security institutions from scratch and persuading people to cast their lot with coalition forces after years of broken promises — all in the face of Taliban intimidation and attacks.

“It’s a gradual effort. It’s a deliberate effort,’’ he said. “There’s no hill to take and flag to plant and proclamation of victory. Rather it’s just hard work.’’

He said it is too early to determine when Afghan security forces can assume responsibility for various parts of the country. Officials from some NATO nations, where public support for the war is lower than in the United States, want to announce at a November meeting of alliance foreign ministers a list of provinces to be handed over. Some Obama administration officials also are pushing for a transition plan before the White House review. But some of the once-quiet provinces in the north and west are now wracked by spiking insurgent violence.

“We’re still in the process of determining what is realistic,’’ Petraeus said. That, he said, depends on the progress of security operations over the next several months. “It’s a process, not an event. It’s one that’s to be conditions-based.’’

Petraeus’s return to the battlefield from his perch as Central Command chief was the result of desperate circumstances — Obama’s decision to fire General Stanley McChrystal for flippant comments he and his staff made to a magazine reporter — yet it has provided the United States and NATO with what almost certainly is the last, best chance to reverse a foundering war. Petraeus literally wrote the military’s book on counterinsurgency strategy, and he engineered a dramatic turnaround in Iraq that many had assumed impossible. But Afghanistan is in many ways a more daunting environment, and there is no guarantee that the counterinsurgency tactics applied in Baghdad will work in Kandahar.

Asked whether he is certain that the counterinsurgency strategy, which emphasizes protecting the civilian population, can be effective in a country where many people regard the insurgents more as miscreant relatives than an existential threat, Petraeus refrained from an unequivocal endorsement.

“The enemy has shown himself to be resilient,’’ he said. “The enemy does fight back. He is trying, in his assessment, to outlast us.’’

Although he is not tackling Afghanistan as he did Iraq, where he began overhauling the war plan upon arrival, he is seeking to duplicate some of the methods that served him well in Baghdad, foremost among them engagement with the country’s political leader. He meets with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan about once a day — far more often than the US ambassador does — in an effort to transform him and his government from weak links to partners in the counterinsurgency mission.

Perhaps his most significant accomplishment since arriving in Kabul has been to get Karzai to endorse the creation of armed neighborhood-watch groups. The president initially expressed concern that the program could result in the creation of militias similar to those that ravaged the country in the 1990s and led to the Taliban’s rise.

Petraeus called his relationship with Karzai healthy.

“We have the kind of relationship that, I believe, we can each be forthright with the other and that means occasionally, again, confronting issues that are difficult for either of us,’’ he said on “Meet the Press.’’

Petraeus contends the counterinsurgency strategy is showing momentum in Helmand province, where about 20,000 US Marines and 10,000 British troops have sought to create inkblots of security in six key districts. Some areas, such as Marja, a former Taliban stronghold, have proved to be tougher to pacify — insurgents are continuing an aggressive harassment campaign — but other places, such as Nawa and Garmsir, are becoming more stable.

He also said he is encouraged by developments in Arghandab district on Kandahar’s northern fringe, where two Army battalions have been engaged in an arduous mission to clear insurgents from pomegranate orchards and vineyards seeded with mines.

“We got intelligence we gathered from the Taliban that said, ‘Don’t worry, fellows. The time has come now. Stop fighting, lay down your weapons and fade away, and just wait until they leave,’ ’’ he said. “Of course, in this case, our forces are not leaving.’’