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Author Topic: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander  (Read 3060 times)

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Offline TheSarge

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Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« on: May 12, 2009, 01:08:45 PM »


WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday replaced the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan and picked a former special forces commander to oversee President Barack Obama's military strategy against a growing Taliban insurgency.
Gates asked for the resignation of Army General David McKiernan less than a year into a command that normally would last 18 to 24 months after concluding the new U.S. strategy in Afghanistan required fresh military thinking.

Gates recommended Army Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal, a former Green Beret, to take over command of the 45,000 U.S. troops and 32,000 other forces from other NATO countries now in Afghanistan.
McChrystal, the director of the U.S. military's Joint Staff, must be nominated by Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate before he can take up the post.

Gates also named Lieutenant General David Rodriguez as deputy commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. Rodriguez was lauded by Pentagon officials for a counterinsurgency effort he led in eastern Afghanistan while commanding the Army's 82nd Airborne Division.
"This is the right time to make the change," Gates told reporters at the Pentagon after returning from his latest trip to Afghanistan.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090511/pl_nm/us_afghanistan_usa
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Offline TheSarge

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #1 on: May 12, 2009, 01:10:56 PM »
And then there's this little tidbit from yesterday in the Defenselink news releases:

Quote
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced today that the President has nominated:
 
                Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis for reappointment to the rank of admiral with assignment as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.  NATO has also agreed to appoint Stavridis as Supreme Allied Commander Europe.  Stavridis is currently serving as the commander, U.S. Southern Command.  In addition to the NATO position, Stavridis will be assigned as commander, U.S. European Command.

http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=12662

This right here pretty much seals GEN McKiernan's fate.  We'll be doing his Special GO retirement ceremony very soon.

And it's a shame.
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Offline NHSparky

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #2 on: May 12, 2009, 01:11:48 PM »
I was gonna say, is this a removal on competence issues or political ones?

God help us if we get back into the PC military.
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Offline TheSarge

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #3 on: May 12, 2009, 01:16:22 PM »
Quote from: NHSparky on May 12, 2009, 01:11:48 PM
I was gonna say, is this a removal on competence issues or political ones?

God help us if we get back into the PC military.

We're heading that way again IMHO.  The only non PC GO they can't touch right now is GEN Petraeus.  But there will be others.  Just gotta watch the DOD news releases and know the players.
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Offline Eupher

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #4 on: May 12, 2009, 02:48:45 PM »
Quote from: NHSparky on May 12, 2009, 01:11:48 PM
I was gonna say, is this a removal on competence issues or political ones?

God help us if we get back into the PC military.

Well, the article said "fresh thinking" as the reason for giving McKiernan the boot. That tells me that McKiernan didn't want to play out of the Obama Playbook (for whatever reason).

Very, very little up at those levels is done without politics.
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Offline ardentconservative

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #5 on: May 12, 2009, 05:09:59 PM »
Well, IMO, this is purely a political appointment.  A commander more in tune to Obama's "it's America's fault" mentality.
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Offline DumbAss Tanker

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #6 on: May 12, 2009, 05:25:09 PM »
Without doubling or tripling the force level and planning for a 30-year presence, and committing the Dept. of State to spend a like amount of money on nation-building itself, I have very little confidence that changing the guy at the head of the table is going to help solve the basic problems with the whole Afghan campaign.
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Offline Crazy Horse

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #7 on: May 12, 2009, 05:57:29 PM »
Why ask for the resignation??
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Offline dutch508

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #8 on: May 12, 2009, 10:20:55 PM »
Quote from: DumbAss Tanker on May 12, 2009, 05:25:09 PM
Without doubling or tripling the force level and planning for a 30-year presence, and committing the Dept. of State to spend a like amount of money on nation-building itself, I have very little confidence that changing the guy at the head of the table is going to help solve the basic problems with the whole Afghan campaign.

depends. If the new guy takes the war into the Kush and into Taliban strongholds in the south- then maybe. If he plays the Obama game- we might as well just leave now.
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Offline DumbAss Tanker

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #9 on: May 12, 2009, 11:05:14 PM »
Quote from: dutch508 on May 12, 2009, 10:20:55 PM
depends. If the new guy takes the war into the Kush and into Taliban strongholds in the south- then maybe. If he plays the Obama game- we might as well just leave now.

That would work except that the Talibastards in those southern strongholds can pop across the border into Pakistan's tribal territories where we can't follow if we make it too hot for them, and then spring right back up as soon as we leave the area.  Without a drastic (and extremely unlikely) change in the dynamic with Pakistan, we're playing into the classic war of the flea scenario where the enemy is willing and able to take a 10-1 kill ratio in our favor but has safe sanctuary and backing across the border.  It's rope-a-dope with us as the dope. 
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Offline Eupher

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #10 on: May 13, 2009, 07:57:26 AM »
Quote from: DumbAss Tanker on May 12, 2009, 11:05:14 PM
That would work except that the Talibastards in those southern strongholds can pop across the border into Pakistan's tribal territories where we can't follow if we make it too hot for them, and then spring right back up as soon as we leave the area.  Without a drastic (and extremely unlikely) change in the dynamic with Pakistan, we're playing into the classic war of the flea scenario where the enemy is willing and able to take a 10-1 kill ratio in our favor but has safe sanctuary and backing across the border.  It's rope-a-dope with us as the dope. 

Shades of Laos and Cambodia all over again.  :banghead:
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Offline dutch508

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #11 on: May 13, 2009, 07:14:45 PM »
Quote from: DumbAss Tanker on May 12, 2009, 11:05:14 PM
That would work except that the Talibastards in those southern strongholds can pop across the border into Pakistan's tribal territories where we can't follow if we make it too hot for them, and then spring right back up as soon as we leave the area.  Without a drastic (and extremely unlikely) change in the dynamic with Pakistan, we're playing into the classic war of the flea scenario where the enemy is willing and able to take a 10-1 kill ratio in our favor but has safe sanctuary and backing across the border.  It's rope-a-dope with us as the dope. 

I didn't mention stopping at the border.
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Offline DumbAss Tanker

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Re: Pentagon replaces top Afghanistan commander
« Reply #12 on: May 14, 2009, 08:32:56 AM »
Quote from: dutch508 on May 13, 2009, 07:14:45 PM
I didn't mention stopping at the border.

And I don't see us going past it, during an Obama administration.  Not in the cards, though past Democrat administrations have a track record of doing wildly unpredictable adventurous things which usually lead to humiliating failures.
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