US Allies Praise Petraeus for Afghanistan Post

(June 24) -- Afghan officials and U.S. allies around the world praised the pick of Gen. David Petraeus as the new leader of NATO troops in Afghanistan, saying they hope the general credited with wresting Iraq from insurgents' grip can do the same in troubled Afghanistan.

Pending Senate confirmation, Petraeus will replace America's top general in Afghanistan, after a Rolling Stone article quoted Gen. Stanley McChrystal and his aides criticizing the Obama administration and poking fun at several civilian officials with oversight of the war.

Petraeus has already been supervising the Afghan war from afar, as head of the U.S. Central Command. He was also the top U.S. commander three years ago in Iraq, when a then-controversial surge of American reinforcements helped to turn the tide of the war there.

He co-authored the U.S. military's counterinsurgency manual -- applied in Iraq -- that outlines a "Clear, Hold, Build" strategy: clearing insurgents from their strongholds, holding major population centers so that they don't return, and building up the local government and public services through aid and development.

Referring to the counterinsurgency strategy for which Petraeus is known, NATO officials expressed relief at his appointment for Afghanistan.

"The strategy continues to have NATO's support and our forces will continue to carry it out," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement quoted by several news agencies. "We will stay for as long as it takes to do our job."

But Afghanistan's tribalism and ethnic divisions are different than those in Iraq, and questions remain as to whether Petraeus' Iraq approach can achieve success in Afghanistan as well.

"The situation in Afghanistan is in obvious disarray and it's not because of personnel. It's because of policy," said U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., according to The Associated Press. "The frustration expressed by McChrystal and his aides highlights the failure of our current policy in Afghanistan."

Afghan leaders who've invested much time and effort in working closely with McChrystal had urged the U.S. not to replace him. Afghan President Hamid Karzai issued a statement Wednesday calling McChrystal the "best commander." But his spokesman said today that Petraeus "will also be a trusted partner."

"Gen. McChrystal was a fine soldier and a partner for the Afghan people," Karzai spokesman Waheed Omar told reporters in Kabul. But he added: "We know Gen. Petraeus. He knows the country. He knows the strategy ... He is the most informed person and the most obvious choice for this job."

A spokesman for the Afghan defense ministry, General Zaher Azimi, told Reuters: "We wish he hadn't gone, but this is America's internal issue. We expect [Petraeus] to follow McChrystal's assessment, which has reduced civilian casualties, brought down arrests and house searches and involved coordination on operations."

America's European allies said the same. The head of the European Union delegation in Kabul, Vygaudas Usackas, said McChrystal did a good job in Afghanistan, but that Petraeus' appointment wouldn't disrupt the mission there.

"I think [McChrystal] really was a pioneering commander for changing the paradigm of the military engagement in Afghanistan to being about protecting the people and talking to communities," Usackas said, according to the AP. "Stan has done a tremendous job. He was a great leader. He made a mistake -- a big mistake."

McChrystal is being replaced just 13 months after Gen. David McKiernan was forced out of the job as well. At the time, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Afghanistan mission needed a new approach.

This time around, U.S. and NATO officials are trying to convey the exact opposite message -- that the approach won't change.

"The campaign remains on course," NATO's senior civilian representative to Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, told reporters today.

The risk is that the Taliban will try to capitalize on McChrystal's dismissal, and try to convince Afghans that the U.S. military is mired in internal conflicts, rather than focusing on leading NATO forces in the fight at hand.

"It is certainly not helpful," Nader Nadery, deputy director of the Human Rights Commission in Kabul, told the AP. "The Taliban will create the perception among people, saying: 'Look, they are not going to win. They are all in disagreement.'"