Afghanistan: This is Now Obama’s War

Das ist non Obama Krieg

R. Klüver und P. Blechschmidt
(Rough Translation from the German)

U.S. President Obama changes the command structure and strategy in Afghanistan –  reminiscent of his predecessors, Lincoln and Truman.

"New Times in Afghanistan: U.S. President Obama has rebuilt the Force. (Photo: AFP)"

With the abrupt dismissal of the supreme commander of the armed forces in Afghanistan, US president Barack Obama has emphasized the importance of this war for his government and has demonstrated how important to him is the implementation of a new strategy is in the battle against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

On the recommendation of his Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Obama has replaced the previous commander, General David McKiernan, on Monday, and has appointed Stanley McChrystal as his successor. McChrystal must be still confirmed by the Senate.

In a hastily scheduled news conference on Monday afternoon, Gates made no specific allegations against McKiernan: “Nothing has gone wrong,” he said, ” there is nothing concrete.” Gates left no room for doubt, however, that McKiernan’s approach had displeased him. The US forces would need “new thinking” and a “new look” in Afghanistan. The Pentagon said that Gates did not force the decision to implement the new strategy on the General. Moreover, one said, McKiernan has been too cautious in the formation of local militias — an element of the new approach that has not  been an insignificant contributor to the success in Iraq.

New management

Apparenttly, on assuming office, Obama had consulted Gates on a change in the command structure in Afghanistan, and Gates had consulted Joint Chief of Staff, Michael Mullen, as well as the supreme commander for the armed forces in the region, David Petraeus. Both recommended the dismissal of McKiernan to Gates. “We needed a new leadership in Afghanistan,” Mullen said on Monday. Furthermore, the relationship between McKiernan and his superior, Petraeus, was tense.

In military circles, McKiernan is known as a man of the old school, well suited for a conventional war, but not having enough expertise in the so-called asymmetric warfare, needed in the fight against guerrillas and terrorists. In the past few months, Gates and Mullen had criticised the high number of civilian casualties in the action of US forces in Afghanistan, particularly in the use of airplanes and helicopters to support ground troops. The Pentagon said, however, that this had played no part in Gates’ decision. The Secretary himself said on Monday that the number of civilian victims in Afghanistan over the previous year since January, had fallen 40 percent.

New course of the new president

“The war is now, unequivocally, Obama’s war,” writes the military expert Fred Kaplan in Slate online magazine. “The president has decided to set a new course, not merely to muddle through the next six months or so.” It is indeed rare for a US President to prematurely replace a commanding general during a war. The legendary Civil War President Abraham Lincoln fired generals in a row. Thereafter, however, the men in the White House were cautious. The last case might date back half a century. At that time, President Harry Truman abruptly dismissed the popular commander in chief during the Korean War, General Douglas McArthur.

The change of command came as a surprise to the German armed forces. However, Gates called the Minister of Defense, Franz Josef Jung, on Monday to inform him of the change. McKiernan was highly respected in Berlin, because he was also considered an advocate of the comprehensive approach, including the related approach of building civilian and military security. Remarkably, it is seen in Berlin that with the appointment of the three star general Rodriguez as the deputy commander of the American troops in Afghanistan, an additional order level is drawn. This serves evidently to coordinate the largely autonomous operating regional units better.

In Pakistan, the Americans continue to use unmanned drones, to bomb the extremists from the air. The US attacks lead to angry protests in Pakistan, because civilians are always killed. Official the Pakistani government also condemns the air strikes. But observers say that there is a tacit agreement between Islamabad and Washington, that the drones may even fly from Pakistani territory.