The Hill News

Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday that after the World Trade Center attacks he knew that the war in Afghanistan would drag on for a long time.

"When 9/11 hit, it was clear to me that we weren't going to win that war like World War I or World War II, where it starts, then it ends. It would be more like the Cold War," Rumsfeld said in a talk at the Heritage Foundation.

The talk, mediated by Heritage President Edwin Feulner, came amid Rumsfeld's tour for his new book, Known and Unknown. 

Rumsfeld added that the future of Afghanistan will ultimately be decided by how well the Afghan government functions, not by what the U.S. does.

"They have a constitution that they drafted, they have a parliament that they elected, they have a president and they're on their way," Rumsfeld said. "I have to say that it's worried me that some on our government seem to take delight in criticizing [Afghan President Hami! d] Karzai. I'm hopeful that he succeeds and that there's a successful election and his successor succeeds."

Over the weekend, Rumsfeld said President Obama didn't deserve the Nobel Prize he was awarded in 2009. He also said Sunday that he didn't think America's image overseas has improved during Obama's time in office.

But on the evolving situation in Libya, Rumsfeld was a bit more forgiving to the Obama administration. In recent days, protesters in Libya have demanded that the country's autocratic leader, Moammar Gadhafi, relinquish power.

"It's very complicated, and we have to respect for the Obama administration or any other administration," Rumsfeld said.