U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus are urging President Obama to reject calls for a substantial withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan this summer. Despite growing opposition to the nearly 10-year-long war, Gates and Petraeus are arguing that to leave too early would imperil hard-fought gains. The war in Afghanistan is already the longest in U.S. history. Gates spoke in Afghanistan on Monday.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates: “If we can keep the military pressure on through the remainder of this year, keep what we’ve captured from these guys in the south, keep disrupting them, as you are up here, and they see that they are not going to win, that that then creates the opportunity for a political reconciliation.”