US/Afghanistan

US replaces Nato commander in Afghanistan

Article published on the 2009-05-12 Latest update 2009-05-12 07:53 TU

Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal
(File photo/Reuters)

US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates announced Monday that he was replacing the top US commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, after only a year on the job, in order to change the US military approach to fighting the Taliban insurgency in the country.

Gates, explaining his decision after a visit to Afghanistan said “our mission there requires new thinking and new approaches from our military leaders."

"Today, we have a new policy set by our new President. We have a new strategy, a new mission and a new ambassador," said Gates to a news conference. "I believe that new military leadership also is needed."

US President Barack Obama has been escalating the war against the Taliban insurgency, and has approved extra deployments to bring the number of US troops in Afghanistan to 68,000 by the fall.

Gates said he would like McKiernan to be replaced by Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, who commanded special operations forces in Iraq and Afghanistan from 2003 to 2008. The new Afghan war strategy emphasises special forces, the secretive side of counter-insurgency warfare.

Gates said he named his military adviser, Lieutenant General David Rodriguez, to serve under McChrystal in a new position.

McChrystal has been credited with operations that hunted down and killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, in 2006. But special operations forces under his command have also been accused of detainee abuses.

Both McChrystal and Rodriguez’s nominations need to be confirmed by the Senate.