CURRENT AFGHAN STRATEGY TO CONTINUE UNDER NEW MILITARY COMMAND
Baku, June 24 (AZERTAC). NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Thursday the counter-insurgency strategy for Afghanistan will not be altered by the abrupt resignation of General Stanley McChrystal following the publication of disparaging remarks of top Obama administration officials by the general and his aides, VOA reports.
Rasmussen thanked General McChrystal for his service, while also reassuring Afghan war stakeholders.
"While he will no longer be the commander, the approach he helped put in place is the right one, said Rasmussen. "The strategy continues to have NATO`s support, and our forces will continue to carry it out."
After McChrystal was removed as commander of U.S. and NATO forces on Wednesday, President Barack Obama nominated General David Petraeus, leader of the U.S. Central Command, to replace him.
Jane`s Defense Weekly magazine editor Peter Felstead said McChrystal`s departure may have been necessary from the perspective of the U.S. administration, but it`s bad news for the NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan, ISAF (the International Security Assistance Force).
"If you look at the ISAF mission, what we`re trying to achieve out there, I don`t really think it was necessary and I think it may have something of a halting factor on the mission at a very crucial time," Felstead said.
He added McChrystal has been the driving force behind the current counter-insurgecy strategy in Afghanistan and he`s leaving as the war effort has become increasingly difficult. However Felstead believes General Petraeus is a good replacement from NATO`s perspective.
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