Obama: 'America's War' in Afghanistan Will Not be Open-Ended

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. presence in Afghanistan will not "be an open-ended commitment of infinite resources, President Obama said in an interview aired Sunday.

Obama said security is tenuous in that nation in part because of neglect in the last U.S. administration. He said he inherited the war and tried to suggest that it was not his war now that he has announce a new strategy for bringing stability to Afghanistan.

"I think it's America's war. And it's the same war that we initiated after 9/11 as a consequence of those attacks," Obama told CBS' "Face the Nation" on Friday, the day he announced his new plan. "The focus over the last seven years I think has been lost. ... Unless we get a handle on it now, we're gonna be in trouble."

Obama said the situation in Afghanistan is not as bad as when the Taliban ruled and Al Qaeda operated with impunity, but it has deteriorated over the past few years.

"This is gonna be hard," Obama said. "I'm under no illusions. If it was easy, it would have already been completed."

On Friday, Obama set new benchmarks and ordered 4,000 more troops to the war zone as well as hundreds of civilians and increased aid. The plan does not include an exit timeline.

The strategy is built on a goal of boosting the Afghan army from 80,000 to 134,000 troops by 2011 -- and greatly increasing training by U.S. troops accompanying them -- so the Afghan military can defeat Taliban insurgents and take control of the war.

Obama said he won't assume that more troops will result in an improved situation.

"There may be a point of diminishing returns in terms of troop levels. We've gotta also make sure that our civilian efforts, our diplomatic efforts and our development efforts, are just as robustly encouraged."

He also stressed the need to be flexible. "We will continue to monitor and adjust our strategies to make sure that we're not just going down blind alleys."

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in an interview on "FOX News Sunday," said the short-term objectives for U.S. forces in Afghanistan have narrowed under Obama's new strategy even as a flourishing democracy in Afghanistan remains a long-term goal.

"I think what we need to focus on and focus our efforts is making headway and reversing the Taliban's momentum and strengthening the Afghan army and police, and really going after Al Qaeda, as the president said," Gates said.

Al Qaeda terrorists are still a serious threat and retain the ability to plan attacks against the United States even though they have been inhibited over the past several years, Gates said.

He added that the president hasn't put a timeline on Afghanistan though the mission won't be unlimited.

"He clearly understands that this is a very tough fight and that we're in it until we're successful, that Al Qaeda is no longer a threat to the United States, and that -- and that we are in no danger of either Afghanistan or the western part of Pakistan being a base for Al Qaeda," Gates said.

"By the same token, I think he's been clear -- and frankly, it was my view in our discussions -- that we don't want to just pursue -- settle on this strategy and then pursue it blindly and open-endedly," he added.

Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have praised the new U.S. strategy for dealing with growing violence in the region, although Pakistan has expressed its frustration that the new president has continued using a unmanned Predator drone missile strikes to take out terrorists in Pakistan along its border with Afghanistan.

Gates has signaled to Congress that the U.S. would continue to go after Al Qaeda inside Pakistan, and senior Obama administration officials have called the strikes effective.

Without directly referring to the strikes Sunday, Obama said the U.S. will consult with Pakistan's leaders before pursuing terrorist hideouts in that country, but that country must be more accountable.

"If we have a high-value target within our sights, after consulting with Pakistan, we're going after them. But our main thrust has to be to help Pakistan defeat these extremists," he said, adding, "Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government."

Asked if that meant he would put U.S. troops on the ground in Pakistan, Obama said: "No. ... We need to work with them and through them to deal with Al Qaeda. But we have to hold them much more accountable."

"What we wanna do is say to the Pakistani people: You are our friends, you are our allies. We are going to give you the tools to defeat Al Qaeda and to root out these safe havens. But we also expect some accountability. And we expect that you understand the severity and the nature of the threat," Obama added.

Sen. John McCain, Obama's 2008 presidential rival, said the issue of Pakistan is vital because it is a large, nuclear nation that has a lot of corruption. However, he added, relying on Pakistan to resolve Afghanistan is not the way to go forward.

"We need to work with Pakistan as much as possible. ... but the fact that we may not get as much help from Pakistan as we want ... does not necessarily mean we don't get as much success in Afghanistan," McCain said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.