No victory in Iraq, says Petraeus

[-Cp]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7610405.stm

The outgoing commander of US troops in Iraq, Gen David Petraeus, has said that he will never declare victory there.
In a BBC interview, Gen Petraeus said that recent security gains were "not irreversible" and that the US still faced a "long struggle".
When asked if US troops could withdraw from Iraqi cities by the middle of next year, he said that would be "doable".
In his next job leading the US Central Command, Gen Petraeus will also oversee operations in Afghanistan.

This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade... it's not war with a simple slogan
Gen David Petraeus

He said "the trends in Afghanistan have not gone in the right direction... and that has to be addressed".