Top American commander in Afghanistan replaced; Obama: Sending additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan was the hardest decision of my administration; UN Chief: Cooperative relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan is key to peace
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    • The top American commander in Afghanistan Gen. David McKiernan was fired from his post by US Defence Secretary Robert Gates. Gates stated that “fresh eyes were needed” and that “a new approach was probably in our best interest” in dealing with the rapidly changing situation in the country1. Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal was appointed as the new US commander and Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez as assigned to be the new deputy commander. Gen. McChrystal was heading the US Special Operations Command which was credited with capturing Saddam Hussein and chief of al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, among others. He had also earlier served in Afghanistan as chief of staff of military operations in 2001 and 20022.

    US President Barack Obama meanwhile, in an interview with Newsweek, stated that sending additional 17,000 troops to Afghanistan was the hardest decision he had made so far. He also did not rule out the possibility of sending even more troops3.

    In view of the large number of civilian casualties that resulted as a result of US air raid in Farah province in the previous week, US ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry told reporters on May 16 that American troops will conduct operations in consultations with their Afghan counterparts in order to avoid such incidents in the future4. The Afghanistan Rights Monitor (ARM) stated that 117 non-combatants were killed in the Farah air strikes5.

    UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, after meeting Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari stated that a robust, cooperative relationship between Afghanistan and Pakistan was important for peace and stability in the volatile region6.

    In other developments, reports noted that forty-four candidates, including two women candidates, have registered for the August 20 presidential elections. In order to register, a candidate has to deposit about $1,000 to the election committee and submit at least 10,000 signatures endorsing his candidature. He/she must also be at least 40 years old and have no prior criminal record7.

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