Removing Afghanistan General Comes As Surprise

 Karin von Hippel was on Radio WTOP to discuss the change in command for U.S. troops in Afghanistan from Gen. David McKiernan to Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Gates has pushed “fresh thinking” and McChrystal’s special operations background as a better fit for counter-insurgency operation in Afghanistan as the reasons for the decision.

 

Flikr photo by army.mil used under a Creative Commons license.

It makes sense to me.

Submitted by on Tue, 05/12/2009 - 7:04pm.

It makes sense to me. Nothing against Gen. McKiernan, but time is against us in Afghanistan. If Gates wasn't confident in our current strategy than waiting until the term was up isn't really acceptable. That said, I might be overly biased from attending a few Lincoln events of late when Generals were regularly replaced.