Does Barack Obama regard our presence in Afghanistan as an "occupation" — like the Soviet occupation?

From today's "Meet the Press" transcript:

DAVID GREGORY: ... We've now been in Afghanistan for eight years.  The Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan after ten years.  Are we committed to this war for an indefinite period of time?  Or do you think, in your mind, is there a deadline for withdrawal?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I don't have a deadline for withdrawal. But I'm certainly not somebody who believes in indefinite occupations of other countries. Keep in mind what happened when I came in. We had been adrift, I think, when it came to our Afghanistan strategy. And what I said was that we are going to do a top to bottom review of what's taking place there....

Note that Obama failed to distance himself from the implication in the question that perhaps what we are doing in Afghanistan is like what the Soviets did. And his introduction of the word "occupations" seemed to let it slip that he actively makes the comparison between us and the Soviet Union. I found that rather disconcerting.