War complexity led to McKiernan's removal

WASHINGTON, May 12 (UPI) -- A shift in the war in Afghanistan helped set the stage for the removal of Gen. David McKiernan as U.S. commander in the country, Pentagon officials said.

When he announced Monday that he was seeking McKiernan's resignation, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said "fresh eyes" were needed and that a "new approach" to the war in Afghanistan was in "our best interests."

The leadership change indicates defense officials think the Afghan war is growing more complex, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Defense Department officials said McKiernan was removed mainly because he was conventional in his approach to the 7-year-old war.

Gates recommended U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, a former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, as McKiernan's replacement. McChrystal was in Afghanistan as chief of staff of military operations in 2001 and 2002 and recently ran commando operations in Iraq.

Forces under McChrystal's command were credited with finding and capturing Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and with tracking and killing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, an al-Qaida leader. His record using intelligence and weaponry to track and kill insurgents and his training in unconventional warfare, made him the best choice for the Afghan command, Pentagon officials told the Times.

Gates said McChrystal would be assisted by U.S. Army Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, who would serve in a new deputy commander position responsible for the day-to-day management of the war. Rodriguez had a previous tour in eastern Afghanistan as commander of the 82nd Airborne.