Gates insisted there was forward movement in the Afghan war, in the latest attempt by the US administration to defend the mission in the face of troubling signs from Afghanistan and a spike in allied and US troop casualties.

"I do not believe we are bogged down. I believe we are making some progress," Gates told a news conference.

"I think we are moving forward," he said.

Gates spoke a day after the commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, was forced to step down over disparaging remarks about administration officials in a bombshell magazine article this week.

In a message aimed at US troops, allies and "adversaries," the defense secretary said he fully supported the abrupt change in command but said it did not reflect any shift in strategy or in Washington's commitment to war.

"No one -- be they adversaries or friends, or especially our troops -- should misinterpret these personnel changes as a slackening of this government's commitment to the mission in Afghanistan," he said.

McChrystal's disrespectful display was "unacceptable" and President Barack Obama's choice as the new commander, General David Petraeus, was the "best possible outcome to an awful situation," Gates said.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the same press conference he would depart later Thursday for a tour of Afghanistan and Pakistan to reassure the region's leaders that Washington's strategy would not be affected by McChrystal's departure.

"My message will be clear. Nothing changes about our strategy. Nothing changes about the mission," said Mullen, who was due to meet military and civilian officials in both countries.

Endorsing Obama's decision on relieving McChrystal, Mullen -- the country's highest-ranking military officer -- said the move was necessary to demonstrate the American armed forces remained a "neutral" institution that answered to civilian authorities.

"We are and must remain a neutral instrument of the state, accountable to and respectful of those leaders no matter which party holds sway or which person holds a given office," Mullen said.

The four-star admiral said he felt physically ill when he first read the Rolling Stone profile of McChrystal, which depicted the commander and his aides mocking the vice-president, the US envoy to the region and the national security adviser.

"Honestly, when I first read it, I was nearly sick," he said.

The firestorm over the magazine profile of McChrystal came as the Obama administration faced fresh doubts in Congress about the course of the unpopular war.

Skeptics have pointed to disappointing results in an offensive in the Marjah area of Helmand province, corruption plaguing the Kabul government and a delay in a much-touted operation around Kandahar city.

But Mullen said there were encouraging trends in Marjah while Gates sought to explain comments by McChrystal earlier this month announcing the delay in the Kandahar operation.

"The Kandahar campaign has in fact been under way for several weeks," he said, referring to military operations.

McChrystal was referring to the need "to take more time to set the political framework around Kandahar before proceeding," he said.

Mullen said that "we clearly are at an enormously difficult time in the execution of the strategy."

In describing the challenge posed by the Afghan mission, Gates quoted the newly nominated commander in Afghanistan, Petraeus, saying it was "hard but not impossible."

In his White House meetings to discuss McChrystal's fate, Gates said Obama was the first to propose replacing the general with Petraeus, credited with turning around the war in Iraq.

"It was the president's idea," he said.

Key senators said they expected Petraeus, who enjoys wide support in Congress, to be swiftly confirmed after hearings set for Tuesday.

The uproar over McChrystal coincided with a grim landmark in Afghanistan.

More troop casualties made June the deadliest single month for US-led foreign forces in nearly nine years of conflict.

A total of 79 foreign troops have died so far this month as a result of the war in Afghanistan, according to an AFP tally based on statistics on the independent icasualties.org website.

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