Gen. McKiernan Replaced in Afghanistan
U.S. Replaces Commander in Afghanistan – Peter Spiegel and Yochi Dreazen, Wall Street Journal.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Monday that he had asked for the resignation of the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, saying he believed new leadership was needed to implement the Obama administration’s war strategy.
Speaking at a Pentagon news conference, Mr. Gates said he had recommended the appointment of Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal to replace Gen. McKiernan. Gen. McChrystal is a Green Beret who ran special operations forces in Iraq until moving to a top Pentagon job last year.
“We have a new strategy, a new mission and a new ambassador,” Mr. Gates said. “I believe that new military leadership also is needed”….
More at The Wall Street Journal.
Gates Recommends Replacement for Top Command in Afghanistan – Ann Scott Tyson, Washington Post.
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates today asked for the resignation of the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, saying the U.S. military “must do better” in executing the administration’s new strategy there.
Gates recommended that President Obama nominate veteran Special Operations commander Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal to replace McKiernan, who would depart as soon as a successor is confirmed. Gates also recommended that Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez, the former head of U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan who is currently serving as Gates’s military assistant, be nominated to serve in a new position as McChrystal’s deputy…
More at The Washington Post.
U.S. Replaces Commander in Afghanistan in War Overhaul – Elisabeth Bumiller, New York Times.
The Pentagon is replacing the top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, less than a year after he took over, marking a major overhaul in military leadership of a war that has presented President Obama with a worsening national security challenge.
Defense officials said that General McKiernan was removed because of what they described as a conventional approach to what has become one of the most complicated military challenges in American history. He is to be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, a former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command who recently ran all special operations in Iraq.
The decision reflects a belief that the war in Afghanistan has grown so complex that it needs a commander drawn from the military’s unconventional warfare branch…
More at The New York Times.
