For many in the military the new strategy has barely been given a chance, and Gen Dubik believes if too many troops come home it would threaten what's been achieved.

BBC: Secretary of Defence Robert Gates's last battle

One retired General, Jim Dubik, who helped mastermind the surge in Iraq and is now a senior fellow at the Institute for the Study of War, told me that for eight years America adopted the wrong strategy, counter-terrorism, which allowed the Taliban to grow.

BBC: Secretary of Defence Robert Gates's last battle