Petraeus: Afghanistan is not Iraq or Vietnam

At The First Draft of History conference in Washington, D.C. today, U.S. commander in the Middle East and Central Asia David Petraeus discussed why, in his mind, it is unwise to draw close comparisons between Iraq, Afghanistan and Vietnam or assume what worked in one conflict will work in another.

"I'm trying to resist the notion that what worked in Iraq will work in Afghanistan," Petraeus said. Check out his comments at left.

Earlier in the conversation, Petraeus defined victory in Afghanistan as "similar to what we had in Iraq, where we can hand off" a stable security situation to the Afghans.

He also said the reason the United States in Afghanistan is the same it was eight years ago - "to make sure it does not become a sanctuary for Al Qaeda and other transnational terrorists."

CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan

Brian Montopoli

Brian Montopoli is the national reporter and political analyst for CBSNews.com.

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