Petraeus says military not enough to quell Afghanistan violence

U.S. Gen. David Petraeus said Sunday that experience in Iraq shows it will take political and economic progress as well as military action to tackle increased violence in Afghanistan.

"You don't kill or capture your way out of an industrial-strength insurgency," he said in a telephone interview in Baghdad.

Petraeus, who is widely credited with pulling Iraq back from the brink of civil war, is taking over as chief of U.S. Central Command, the headquarters overseeing U.S. military involvement throughout the Mideast, as well as Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia. He'll hand over the reins in Iraq to Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno on Tuesday during a ceremony at the U.S. military headquarters on the western outskirts of Baghdad.

"We've got a situation in Afghanistan where clearly there have been trends headed in the wrong direction," Petraeus said. "Military action is absolutely necessary but it is not sufficient."

"Political, economic and diplomatic activity is critical to capitalize on gains in the security arena," he said.

A U.S. bombing attack last month on the western Afghan village of Azizabad was based on false information provided by a rival tribe and did not kill a single Taliban fighter, despite U.S. claims, the Afghan president's spokesman, Humayun Hamidzada, said Sunday.

An Afghan government commission found that up to 90 civilians were killed in the raid, including 60 children, a finding backed by a preliminary U.N. report. A formal U.S. military investigation initially found that the operation killed up to 35 militants and seven civilians. But after video images surfaced showing at least 10 dead children and up to 40 other dead villagers, the Pentagon said it would send a general to investigate.