WASHINGTON, Aug 1 (Saba) -- Senior officials from the US Department of Defence stressed during interviews with several TV channels that the US strategy in Afghanistan would be victorious, at the same time expressing anxiety regarding the leak of confidential documents on the matter, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

In an interview with the BBC, US Secretary of Defence Gates expressed rejection of voices saying that the US has no strategy in Afghanistan.

"I think that the president's strategy is really quite clear -- the objective was to reverse the momentum of Taliban insurgents, deny them access to towns and cities and ramp up Afghan security forces so they can defend themselves and prevent al-Qaeda from returning to the country," Gates said.

"My personal opinion is that drawdown early on will be of fairly limited numbers. And as we are successful, we'll probably accelerate. But, again, it will depend on the conditions on the ground." "We are not there to take on a nationwide reconstruction or construction project in Afghanistan. What we have to do is focus our efforts on those civilian aspects and governance to help us accomplish our security objective. We are in Afghanistan because we we're attacked from Afghanistan, not because we want to try and build a better society in Afghanistan," he noted.

Meanwhile, Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaking on NBC's Meet the Press, said: "I think the central mission in Afghanistan right now is to protect the people." "We left Afghanistan in the late eighties, we left Pakistan in the late eighties, and we find ourselves back there now... and certainly the questions that are out there from the citizens in those countries are 'Are we going to stay this time or not?' And I believe that we've got to stay, we've got the right strategy, the right resources." On the leak of confidential documents regarding the US involvement in Afghanistan on website Wikileaks, Mullen called it "unprecedented" in its scope and volume.

Saba