Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal

An earlier post had reported on US Defense Department’s move towards greater control of command in the Afghanistan-Pakistan theatre.

On 11 May 2009, the New York Times reported the next step in this process, the replacement of Gen. David McKiernan, head of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) as well as the Commander of US Forces in Afghanistan, with Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChystal (who, as reported in our last post, was until recently a top staff officer to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, who assigned him to head a task force to improve the effectiveness of the Afghan strategy):

“Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced the decision in terse comments at the Pentagon, saying that “fresh eyes were needed” and that “a new approach was probably in our best interest.” When asked if the dismissal ended the general’s military career, Mr. Gates replied, ‘Probably’.”

According to the New York Times, “General McKiernan [is] the first general to be dismissed from command of a theater of combat since Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War… General McKiernan served in his current command for only 11 months, about half the length of such tours.”

The change will also remove an uneasy relationship for Gen. David H. Petraeus, who had served under General McKiernan in Iraq, but had superceded him.

An expert at intelligence and unconventional warfare, Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, is a former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), who work closely with the CIA in operating drone attacks and covert operations in Pakistan. He has served in Afghanistan as chief of staff of military operations in 2001 and 2002 and recently ran all commando operations in Iraq.

The shift in military strategy (toward intelligence, special operations, and unconventional warfare) is expected to be in place within 60 days.

According to a Stimson Center blog, the move is consistent with DoD budget proposals for FY 2010:

“Along with a shift in approach toward Afghanistan, significant new resources are also going towards U.S operations in the region. In the President’s FY 2010 budget request, $7.5 billion was requested to train and equip the Afghanistan Security Forces (a 34% increase over total FY 2009 requested funding – this includes last year’s FY2009 supplemental bridge appropriation and Obama’s FY2009 supplemental request) along with $700 million for the Pakistan Counterinsurgency Capability Fund (a new program at the Defense Department to train and equip Pakistani forces, and provide reconstruction and stabilization support to Pakistan).  Meanwhile, funds for the Iraq train and equip program were not requested for FY 2010.  This shift in resources from Iraq and towards Afghan-area operations is also reflected in total funding for FY 2010 Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO). Of the $130 billion requested for FY 2010, $65 billion is for Afghanistan while only $61 billion is for Iraq. Thus, the replacement of Gen. McKiernan is another step in the administration’s focus on operations in Afghanistan and Pakistan.