Gates: Afghanistan a 'tough pull,' but improving

[David]

AP


WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Robert Gates says the spike in U.S. casualties in Afghanistan was expected and that people are too quick to say the war is going badly.

Gates tells "Fox News Sunday" the war is a "tough pull." But he says momentum is shifting toward the United States and its partners.

He acknowledges that the war effort in the Taliban heartland of southern Afghanistan is going more slowly than planned. He also acknowledges problems with corruption and thievery among the Afghan army forces — who are supposed to take over when the U.S. and other countries leave Afghanistan.