KABUL, Afghanistan — A weekend media blitz by the Army’s public relations master sent a clear message: It’s not time to hit the panic button in Afghanistan, but success in the nearly 9-year war won’t come quickly.

The appeal for patience by Gen. David Petraeus, made in a series of media interviews Sunday, also suggests he may propose that only a few troops begin leaving next July, as President Barack Obama has promised.

That could force the White House to choose between the professional advice of a respected commander widely credited with turning around the Iraq war and pressure from some Democrats for significant withdrawals and an end to the unpopular Afghan conflict.

The media-savvy Petraeus chose to deliver his message through news organizations with significant audiences in Washington — NBC’s “Meet the Press,” The New York Times and The Washington Post.

Stephen Biddle, a defense policy expert with the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, said the American public’s chief worry is that the U.S. may be engaged in a fight in Afghanistan that it cannot win.

Part of the job of Petraeus and other administration officials is to “make the case the war is winnable and we’re in the process of winning it,” Biddle said.

To convince skeptics that he’s not coaching a losing team, Petraeus said he sees early signs of progress in routing the Taliban from some of their southern strongholds, reforming the Afghan government and training and equipping thousands of Afghan soldiers and police.

He also cited a new initiative to create Afghan community defense forces — similar to those he used with success in Iraq — and nascent steps to reintegrate low-level insurgents who want to stop fighting.

For his part, Petraeus must find a way by the end of the year to convince Congress and the American public that the U.S. and its allies are gaining ground, or all the interviews and rosy predictions will come to naught.