McChrystal’s counter-insurgency strategy, which brought sweeping changes aimed at cutting civilian casualties and winning over the population, had been credited with bringing some order to a chaotic and spiralling conflict.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s government had publicly urged the White House not to remove McChrystal over disparaging remarks he made about officials in US President Barack Obama’s administration in a Rolling Stone profile.
A spokesperson for Karzai – whose relations with the White House have been troubled – praised McChrystal as a “trusted partner of the Afghan people” and said his removal would “not be helpful” at this critical juncture.
However, the Afghan government later said it respected Obama’s decision and welcomed the appointment of David Petraeus, the general credited with changing the direction of the Iraq conflict, to succeed McChrystal.
Spokesperson Waheed Omar, speaking before McChrystal’s removal on Wednesday, said Kabul believed the US general had made a mistake but it should not detract from the urgency of trying to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the Taliban remain unaffected. “We don’t care whether it’s McChrystal or Petraeus,” Taliban spokesoerson Yousuf Ahmadi said. “We’ll be fighting the invading forces until they leave.”
Published in The Express Tribune, June 25th, 2010.
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