One day before the Nobel ceremony, the head of US forces in the Middle East said he expects violence to rise in Afghanistan as the US escalates the war. General David Petraeus made the prediction in testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Gen. David Petraeus: “As in Iraq, our troopers and their partners in Afghanistan will have to fight their way into enemy strongholds and clear enemy-controlled population centers. As in Iraq, the situation is likely to get harder before it gets easier. Violence likely will increase initially, particularly in the spring as the weather improves.”