TOKYO (AFP) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates Wednesday denied any rift between the US military and civilian leaderships over strategy in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama has been deliberating for weeks on whether to send thousands more troops to the war-torn country, triggering criticism about the slow pace of deliberations.
Several reports have spoken of growing differences between the Pentagon and the Obama White House, with The New York Times saying Tuesday that “frustration and anxiety are on the rise within the military”.
Speaking in Tokyo, Gates said that “these stories may make good reading, but they are not a reflection of reality”.
“There have been very close collaborative efforts between our military officers and civilian side of the government,” he said.
He said both sides had been meeting almost daily.
“These rumours -- some kind of rifts -- are just not accurate and do not reflect the close working efforts between our military and civilians,” he said after meetings with Japanese leaders.