U.S. Army Chief of Staff Peter Schoomaker on Friday cautioned that the war on terror will be a long, dangerous one, and declined to say the nation is winning.

"I believe that we are closer to the beginning (of the war)... than we are to the end," Schoomaker told a luncheon on Capitol Hill, according to U.S. media reports.

When asked whether the military was winning in Iraq, he preferred an indirect answer: "I don't think we're losing."

The general did note Iraq's rampant sectarian violence and acknowledged that achieving security in that country has become more and more "complex."

Nevertheless, Schoomaker talked about hope, citing positive developments of the war, especially the progress of Iraq's security forces.

He also denied that the increased reports on U.S. war atrocities were resulting from the army's failure to address combat stress.

With tremendous war costs, huge death tolls and war-related scandals, the Bush administration is under growing pressure on setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

The Pentagon has said it hopes to begin troop reductions this year if conditions on the ground allow it, but administration officials still refuse to make any prediction.

Source: Xinhua