U.S. commander in Afghanistan gets more authority // Reuters March 4
Wahid Taha
Dear all, FYI Please.
U.S.
commander in Afghanistan gets more
authority
By Pav Jordan – Thu Mar 4, 5:10 pm ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) – U.S. General David
Petraeus said on Thursday he had expanded the authority of his top commander in
Afghanistan, Gen.
Stanley McChrystal, to give him operational control over virtually all American
forces in the country.
Officials in Washington said the move was part
of an effort to further streamline the military hierarchy in Afghanistan.
McChrystal commands U.S. and NATO troops
there -- except for U.S. Special Operations forces and prison guards who run
detention facilities and answer to Petraeus, they said.
Special Ops have come under scrutiny since a NATO airstrike late last month
killed 27 Afghan civilians. U.S. officials say
Special Ops called in the strike.
McChrystal has sought to curtail the use of air power, arguing that civilian
deaths hurt a campaign to win over the local population and defeat Taliban
insurgents.
Speaking to a defense conference in Ottawa, Petraeus said he had ordered that
"all U.S. forces, less a
handful, be placed there under General McChrystal's operational, not just
tactical, control."
As head of U.S. Central Command, Petraeus oversees wars in Afghanistan as well as Iraq.
He said his order consolidating command under McChrystal was issued within the
past week after "considerable discussion ... within the U.S. Department of
Defense."
Petraeus did not say which handful of forces would not be covered by the order.
"This is a significant development. It will provide General McChrystal
authorities that I never had as the commander in Iraq -- though I wish I had them --
and that his predecessors never had in Afghanistan
either," Petraeus said.
McChrystal's counterinsurgency strategy emphasizes seizing population centers
and avoiding combat in built-up areas whenever possible to avert civilian
deaths. The number of civilians killed by NATO troops has fallen since he took
command in mid-2009.
Magnus Forsberg
Information Coordinator
Swedish Committee for Afghanistan
Jalalabad Main Road, Paktia Kot
PO Box 5017, Kabul, Afghanistan
+93 (0) 700 078 103
+93 (0) 799 341 120
+88 216 542 503 12 (satellite)
Best regards,
-----------------------
Wahid Taha
Coordination Officer Afghanistan-Herat
Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR)
Email: acba...@acbar.org / whd...@gmail.com
Mobile: (AWCC) +93 (0) 700 578800
phone Nmuber: (040) 440612
Address: Herat End of Majidi Street next to UNHCR office.
Farid Niazi
Dear all,
Please see attached ACBAR statement shared today with the Press. The statement is a reaction to a recent declaration made by the NATO Secretary General presenting NGOs as the necessary “Soft Power” to basically achieve a military and political agenda in complex crises such as the Afghan crises.
Best regards,
-----------------------
Farid Niazi
Regional Manager
Afghanistan-Herat
Agency Coordinating Body for Afghan Relief (ACBAR)
Mobiles:
(Roshan) +93 (0) 799 40 3200
(AWCC) +93 (0) 700 40 3200
Emails:
Address: 6th district, end of Majidi Street next to UNCHR
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