Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters late Thursday the surge strategy in Afghanistan is beginning to work. Citing reports from General David Petreaus, the US Commander in Afghanistan, Gates said his personal impressions during a recent trip confirmed these assessments.

Gates’ upbeat assessment comes as the Obama administration faces growing skepticism with the progress and direction of the war.

Gates was quick to point out there would not be any premature discussion of success. “As I say, it’s early. There may be a greater move in the right direction’ in four to six months,” he said. “I think there is a general feeling that there has been some progress in that area, but it will have to be sustained.”

With all 30,000 additional US troops now on the ground, Gates said: “The question is, is our campaign plan - to look in December and beyond, is the campaign plan working? Is the principle proven that this is the right approach?

“The evidence that General Petraeus is seeing so far suggests to him that it is - and both on the civilian and the military side, not just the military side,” Gates told the joint press conference at the Pentagon with his French counterpart, Herve Morin.

He cited the dramatic growth in the “numbers and quality” of Afghan security forces as one cause for optimism, but said that both he and Petraeus remained “cautious.” Gates cautioned that the US won’t make the mistake in Afghanistan of predicting success too soon. The lessons of Vietnam and the disastrous Soviet occupation of Afghanistan loom nearly as large as the prolonged US military involvement in Iraq.

“Most of us try to err on the side of caution because of previous experiences, particularly in Iraq, of people perhaps being too optimistic, and certainly too optimistic prematurely,” Gates said.

The Pentagon chief warned that there was still a tough fight ahead against insurgents but said Afghanistan has a “capable and competent” plan for handling security during this weekend’s parliamentary elections. US forces will provide backup where needed, as they did during last year’s fraud-marred presidential vote.