Afghanistan War Gains Are Fragile, Need Civilians, Petraeus Says

Military gains in Afghanistan are “fragile and reversible” and may be in jeopardy without approval from Congress for enough civilian aid, U.S. Army General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told lawmakers yesterday.

“The momentum achieved by the Taliban in Afghanistan since 2005 has been arrested in much of the country and reversed in a number of important areas,” Petraeus said in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee in Washington. “While the security progress achieved over the past year is significant, it is also fragile and reversible.”