Posted on 05/11/2009 10:32:10 AM PDT by xzins
The Pentagon will replace its top general in Afghanistan as President Barack Obama tries to turn around a stalemated war, defense officials said.
The exit of Gen. David McKiernan comes as more than 21,000 additional U.S. forces begin to arrive in Afghanistan, dispatched by Obama to confront the Taliban more forcefully this spring and summer.
McKiernan, on the job about a year, has asked repeatedly for additional forces. Obama’s revamped strategy for Afghanistan does markedly increase the number of U.S. forces in the country but focuses on nonmilitary solutions as a better long-term solution.
Military officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said McKiernan will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the announcement. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was likely to announce the new leadership in Afghanistan later today, an official said.
(Excerpt) Read more at heraldnet.com ...
McChrystal is a tough Ranger. This should be interesting.
McChrystal did a lot of the 5-gon briefings for Rumsfeld during the early parts of the Iraqi war. I’m surprised, given the Rummie connections.
Any new strategy BETTER take into account the limited resupply routes that large quantities of large munitions could take in entering Afghanistan.
Non-military solution to the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Another disaster in the making.
Anybody know anything about him?
Ooops, I posted too fast!
He is a good friend of mine. Much better than McKiernan.
“dispatched by Obama”
Not good. That’s more like “Cher” than “Bush”.
That’s good to hear. But the question is whether he’ll get what he needs. It looks as if other countries are starting to back out, and I’m far from sure what Obama’s intentions are. Also there’s the Pakistani mess to worry about.
Well, good luck to him and our forces there. I hope they either use them properly or pull them out.
With Khazid complaining about the air strikes and civilian deaths last week this is probably Obama’s way of appeasement to keep him happy back home.
His brother is/was a top chaplain in the US Army. It’s an interesting family. The brother was an excellent, sincere human being with a solid wife and a boy who was an exceptional athlete/quarterback on his high school team.
I was always told his Ranger brother was really a tough character...a snaker eater who downed nails as a chaser.
McCrystal is Special Ops Chief....this is VERY bad news for Al Qaeda..
“Anybody know anything about him?”
Yes,
McChrystal is not only a Ranger, But SF to boot.
Also, McChrystal gets the whole Net-centic warfare and IO Campaign way of doing biz.
I met LTG McCrystal aboput a month ago - VERY savvy individual. An Excellent Choice to replace McKiernan. HE’s also got a good bit of on-ground experience in Afghanistan.
But the soldiers are arriving without equipment. Where is the outrage about this! They screamed holy hell about troops not having proper body armor when Bush was running things. Now they are going in country without equipment! I must say that I am outraged. Obama sending our boys into battle ill equipped! He needs to be taken to task for this.
No....you are miss reading it. He is a hunter killer....this is no paper pusher.
Afghanistan is everything 0bama and his Democrats tried to portray Iraq as. There is no long-term military solution there. The war in Afghanistan is ‘unwinnable.’ This isn’t to say we are losing the war or are in any danger of it, but simply that there is no possible exit strategy based on permanent victory there.
Afghanistan is the Wild Wild West. It is ungovernable. No one wants to live there except for outlaws. There are no natural resources except for poppies. It is landlocked with no major sources of water. It is inhospitable. This is the reason why outlaws and terrorists make it their home when no other country will take them.
That is why outlaws will always rule Afghanistan. A country where legitimate people will not live cannot have a legitimate government made up of legitimate individuals. The US will never be able to extract itself by setting up a legitimate, functional, non-corrupt government there. The only solution involving a military presence is one where we are there indefinitely, with US soldiers playing the role of cops. That’s not an exit strategy.
Instead, we need to leave Afghanistan, and destroy what little infrastructure it has, torch all the poppy fields, and level the camps there.
We can do this from 10,000 feet. And we will need to do it once every decade or so, to prevent the likes of Al Qaeda and the Taliban from reconstituting and rebuilding too much
I’m glad to read these reports about McCrystal, thanks.
Never happen..
He lead the hunt for Zarqawi....and got him.
I get that, it’s just the timing of the change that’s suspect. Khazid complains to show face at home over civilian deaths and there’s a mix-up of the top brass, good or bad, the following Monday.
I don’t believe in coincidences.
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