WASHINGTON, Sept. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates Thursday defended keeping the military's latest assessment of the situation in Afghanistan secret.
Gates called the assessment by Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, commander of NATO and U.S. forces in Afghanistan, a "pre-decisional" document that needs to be digested by President Barack Obama.
"And frankly I believe that the president deserves the right to absorb the assessment himself and have his questions and my questions and others' questions relating to the assessment answered before it's delivered," Gates said.
"And I think we ... we need to understand that the decisions that the president faces ... on Afghanistan are some of the most important he may face, in his presidency, about how we go forward there."
"And this is a situation in which I think this decision process should not be rushed."
The assessment will be made available to members of Congress, he said.
Gates said he has the flexibility to adjust to requirements in the field without the president having made a decision on major troop deployments, noting he recently authorized sending another 2,500 to 3,000 troops to Afghanistan that McChrystal had requested.
The defense secretary said assessing the Afghan political situation is part of making sure the strategy is correct going forward.
"It remains to be seen how long it will take to see the outcome of the election," Gates said. "But I would tell you there is no question that the -- that the nature of the election in Afghanistan has complicated the picture for us."
