In Afghanistan, a New General -- But An Old Strategy

CBS

In announcing that he was replacing General Stanley McChrystal with General David Petraeus as the top commander in Afghanistan, President Obama made clear that while there would be a different man at the top, the war strategy would remain exactly the same.

"This is a change in personnel but it is not a change in policy," the president said in the Rose Garden, stressing that Petraeus, as the commander of U.S. Central Command, "supported and helped design the strategy we have in place."

Mr. Obama pointedly stated that he was removing McChrystal because derogatory comments by the general and his staff - conduct that he said "does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general" - and not because of "any difference in policy with General McChrystal, as we are in full agreement about our strategy."

But it's important to realize that the most important part of the Rolling Stone article that brought down McChrystal may not have been the incendiary quotes but rather the complaints from the military rank and file that the strategy isn't working.

Policies about limiting civilian casualties have soldiers complaining they can't effectively fight; one showed author Michael Hastings a card with regulations including "Patrol only in areas that you are reasonably certain that you will not have to defend yourselves with lethal force."

Said the soldier: "You sit and ask yourself: What are we doing here?"

Indeed, that's a question being asked by both some soldiers and some lawmakers, some of whom have struggled to define the mission in what is by some measures now the longest war in U.S. history. The president tried to address those concerns in his remarks, stating, "make no mistake, we have a clear goal."

"We are going to break the Taliban's momentum," he said. "We are going to build Afghan capacity. We are going to relentlessly apply pressure on Al Qaida and its leadership, strengthening the ability of both Afghanistan and Pakistan to do the same."

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"We will not tolerate a safe haven for terrorists who want to destroy Afghan society from within and launch attacks against innocent men, women and children in our country and around the world," he added.

Yet critics will see McChrystal's stunning fall as a missed opportunity to walk away from a strategy they say isn't working. Casualties continue to pile up in the country -- June has already become the deadliest month yet for NATO forces (76 casualties, including 46 Americans) -- and February's offensive in Marjah has been far from an unqualified success. Though the military took the area, the Taliban remains a presence, and just yesterday Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, the White House special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, was shot at during a visit there. (In the Rolling Stone story, McChrystal called Marjah a "bleeding ulcer.")

Liberals and fiscal hawks in the House, meanwhile, were already wary of continuing to fund a fight in which clear victory was difficult to envision, and Mr. Obama's decision to stay the course will not likely change their thinking.

Petraeus, a counterinsurgency expert who orchestrated the successful Iraq surge, will now be charged with turning the tide without dramatically changing course. He ostensibly won't have much time to do so -- Mr. Obama agreed to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan on the condition that they begin leaving by July of next year, though that deadline looks less and less firm.

Afghanistan is the war Mr. Obama took as his own from the start, and he made clear today he is intent on seeing through the strategy that he settled on during a protracted review period last year. It will be left to history whether that his decision to stick with the plan orchestrated by his now-deposed general marked an important display of his leadership or instead an opportunity lost. 

More Coverage:

McChrystal Relieved of Duty; Petraeus Tapped
Watch Obama's Statement
David Petraeus Brings Experience to the Job
What Happened in the Oval Office
Bob Schieffer and Bill Plante React to the Announcement
McChrystal Statement: I Resigned to See the Mission Succeed
McChrystal Situation Imperils War Funding Bill
Washington Unplugged: McChrystal Fallout Shakes Up Administration
Is McChrystal "Damaged Goods"?
Pictures: General McChrystal and President Obama
CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan

Watch: McChrystal on "60 Minutes"

[wfw3536]

I am so happy Obama finally did something right. He pick Bush's man for to take charge. He did a great job in Iraq and turned that war around.

[politicalpost]

People have forgotten 9/11 event already, just as Bush administration when they diverted the war to Iraq who had nothing to do with 9/11 event. The strategy that President Obama is pursuing is clearly different from former administration who had simply allowed Bin Laden to escape into Pakistan who most likely have given him safe harbor there. Here, current strategy is putting the Govt. of Pakistan and those people who harbored these terrorist at task to find them. I applaud him for doing the right thing.

[mickrussom]

I would like to remind the Secret Service that their oath is to protect the CONSTITUTION. It is not to protect the President. Military Officers and the Secret Service have solemnly sworn to "protect and defend the constitution of the United States of America, from all enemies, both foreign and domestic". The secret service is modeled on the Praetorian Guard. They were the best of the best, and their 'job' was to protect the Emperor, however their allegiance was to the SPQR, the Senate and People of Rome. On more than one occasion, they removed the Emperor from his position of power. Their oath was to the People. To the Secret Service and Officers in the Military your oath is to the constitution! You betray the Constitution by letting this radical traitor and Marxist continue to destroy America. Every day OBAMA-Baby-Stalin threatens the survival of this nation. Every day, OBAMA-Baby-Stalin assaults the Constitution. I see no difference from what Obama is doing, from what Hugo Chavez has done. Every action he takes is in conflict with our laws. The military officers and the Secret Service, it is YOUR DUTY to remove these clear and present threats. Your duty is to the Constitution. Your duty is to the country. Your duty is to THE PEOPLE. It is your job to recognize OBAMA-Baby-Stalin has crossed the line. Obama seeks to turn us in to a Banana Republic like Venezuela? Let's give him his wish. We can start, with a Coup d'?tat. Secret Service: your SWORN allegiance is to the constitution. You must be vigilant or our way of life is finished.

Military officers take an oath to uphold and support the Constitution of the United States, and to defend it from all enemies foreign and DOMESTIC. I think it's high time they honored the Domestic part. Retired military officers should begin forming a pro military PAC coalition to force Congress to reconvene the House Subcommittee on un-American Activities and to forcibly expel all Marxists / Progressives and other subversives from government employment. They should actively lobby for a Constitutional Amendment to make free market private property enterprise the legal economic model of the nation, to outlaw all forms of socialism and government control of any businesses or industry, and to criminalize all forms of political activity aimed at overthrowing the Constitutional Republic of the USA. All senior officers appointed to general rank should be made to swear an additional oath to actively resist any act of treason by any elected official and to refuse to follow any orders which directly threatens the Constitutional law of the land and the sovereignty of the nation.

[user000049586849302948602]

<forward:fbi.gov/>

[Bisk1]

What would you suggest the Secret Service do with people that incite and also insult their principal ??? I sure hope you're being looked at. Cheers!

[truth-b-toll]

Got to feed the war machine.
Never forget the gop-bush-cheney created this neverending me$$!
PAY UP AMERICAN$!

[rojobaron]

Wait, I thought the Democrats hated Petraeus. He was nothing but a tool of the Bush administration. Now he is a valuable asset to take over for the disgraced McChrystal? Holy cow, so Bush knew what he was doing the whole time and Obama just validated it? What a bunch of lying hypocrites. They will tell you anything to get elected....like they didn't think that helthcare reform of this scale was really needed. And the American sheep who can't see past CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN and the NYTimes fell for it.

[user000049586849302948602]

Um, evidently not, since Obama just selected him to replace dirt bag McChrystal and it is anticipated that he will be universally confirmed. Try not to show your ignorance so much.

[jncarlos007]

The lord-master obama the great has no more idea how to run a war than I do. And I watched Rambo AND Red Dawn.

Welcome to the world of the clueless.
Maybe he can hope something will change...

[Bisk1]

The POTUS has got advisers and enough generals around him to get this mission accomplished - It's the Repugs that are Clueless. Dumb Repugs !!

[mormandy3]

This is a hopeless war that we can never win and it doesn't matter who is in charge. We could stay there another 10 years, but as soon as we pull out the Taliban will retake control, as they always have. They aren't going to just "go away", or "surrender", they can out-wait us, they live there.

[abbeysroad]

Russians invaded Afghanistan with a lot more than 30,000 troops and look what happened to them! OBAMA has no clear strategy for fighting this war. His administration gave rules of engagement cards to soldiers in Afghanistan stating they are only to patrol areas where they don't have to use lethal force.

[Leaderless]

Mr. Obama pointedly stated that he was removing McChrystal because derogatory comments by the general and his staff.
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barack "hypocrite" obama apparently forgot the degrading comments he made about the Cambridge police.
What's the matter barack, no beer summit in the garden to sort things out? your pettiness is showing.
"bite me" biden dropping the F bombs brings much needed class in to the obamas regime.

[Eternalgreenknight]

At least Gen McChrystal had the stones to tell the truth. He was being set up for failure and micromanaged with hands tied for rules of engagement. We did this in Nam and it cost us dearly. It's one thing to salute smartly and follow orders, and another thing entirely when to do so when those orders are fraudulent, wasteful, and abusive. To quietly submit to such tyranny would be treason to the oath of office- which is to the Constitution, not a politician.

[bandit-560]

Obama was right to fire Stan. Anyone who voted for him is not fit for command.