Knee Deep in the Hooah!

I’ve been watching Tweets going on about this from WOTN.

Excerpt

McKiernan out of Afghanistan command
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Tuesday, May 12, 2009

WASHINGTON — Gen. David McKiernan was forced out as head of U.S. Forces in Afghanistan, a move Defense Secretary Robert Gates said was needed to find new ways to end conflict there.

“From a military perspective, we can and must do better,” Gates said at a news conference Monday. “Our mission there requires new thinking and new approaches from our military leaders.

“We have a new policy set by our new president. We have a new strategy, a new mission, and a new ambassador. I believe new military leadership is also needed.”

McKiernan will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who currently serves as director of the Joint Staff. Gates also announced the assignment of Lt. Gen. David Rodriguez to a new three-star post in Kabul, designed to help deal with day-to-day military operations in the country.

McKiernan will serve until McChrystal and Rodriguez are confirmed by the Senate. McKiernan also serves as commander of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces in Afghanistan, a post he took over just 11 months ago.

Time Magazine recently highlighted McKiernan in their annual “World’s 100 most influential people” issue. In February he predicted a “tough year” of fighting for U.S. forces in the country, and warned the deployment of 30,000 new troops into Afghanistan might not be enough to continue progress past the end of this year.

Gates praised McKiernan’s service and said the change was not a negative reflection on his work.

“Nothing went wrong,” Gates said. “There was nothing specific. It simply was my conviction … that a fresh approach and a fresh look in a context of the new strategy was probably in our best interest.”