Outgoing war commander Gen. David McKiernan valued reaching out to Afghan elders

Outgoing Afghan war commander valued outreach

KABUL — Gen. David McKiernan’s private U.S. military jet raced south toward Kandahar, the Taliban’s former stronghold. Inside, McKiernan adjusted his reading glasses and turned a page of the Muslim holy book.

Hours later, McKiernan told 250 tribesmen he was reading “a very good book.”

“It’s all about you — it’s the Quran,” McKiernan said during an effort last month to reach out to leaders of villages where thousands of American troops will soon deploy.

The tribal elders applauded. Several Afghan leaders told the four-star general how relations between U.S. troops and Afghan villagers could improve. McKiernan took notes and asked if he could come back to evaluate the new U.S. deployment.

Now, McKiernan won’t get the chance to make that checkup visit.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates replaced McKiernan on Monday as the commander of the Afghanistan war, saying the Obama administration needs “fresh thinking” to turn around the war against a resurgent Taliban.

The announcement came only days after Gates visited Afghanistan, and a week after a bloody battle between U.S. and Taliban militants that President Hamid Karzai said killed up to 130 civilians.

McKiernan, who took over as commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan on June 3, 2008, spent a lot of his time trying to reach out to Afghans, much as he did in Kandahar last month.

The relations-building maneuvers fit in with the U.S. military’s overall counterinsurgency strategy, which is summed up in three words: clear, hold and build.

The first step refers to combat missions to clear an area of militants. The second requires a long-term commitment by troops to maintain security. The third refers to the building up of government institutions.

Military analyst Anthony Cordesman called McKiernan an outstanding officer who has shown flexibility as a leader. But he said Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, McKiernan’s replacement, has more experience with “clear, hold and build.”

“Sometimes you have a situation where you have two very good commanders, but in a critical combat situation one has an edge, and in this case Gen. McChrystal has that edge,” said Cordesman, of the Washington D.C.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.

McChrystal brings to Afghanistan his experience as a commander of special forces, compared with McKiernan’s more conventional background.

But, Cordesman added, “It came as a quick announcement. It wasn’t something people had anticipated.”

During the April 9 trip to Kandahar, McKiernan told The Associated Press he expected to serve a second year as commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

His parting words Monday as the top Afghanistan general reflected his hopes that the country will overcome the increasingly violent insurgency tearing through its outlying provinces.

“All of us, in any future capacity, must remain committed to the great people of Afghanistan,” McKiernan said in a statement. “They deserve security, government that meets their expectations, and a better future than the last 30 years of conflict have witnessed. While the Taliban and other terrorist groups offer only lies and fear, our continued efforts promote freedom and hope.”

McKiernan added: “I have never been prouder to be an American soldier.”

The man McKiernan replaced, retired U.S. Gen. Dan McNeill, said: “David McKiernan’s been a good friend and still is a good friend, and I think he’s done a good job in Afghanistan.”

During the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, McKiernan commanded all coalition and U.S. conventional ground forces.

In Kandahar, he told the tribal elders that the Iraq war had diverted resources from Afghanistan that were needed to fight the Taliban.