NATO defense ministers have endorsed a new command structure in Afghanistan that will tighten America's grip on military operations against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, reflecting the growing dominance of the United States in the alliance's security campaign in the strife-torn South-West Asian country.
Announcing the important development at NATO headquarters in Brussels Friday, NATO spokesman James Appathurai said: "There is an agreement in principle to this command structure, the details of which will be worked out later and consulted amongst allies exactly how it will be implemented."
He said that at a working dinner overnight, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates clarified parts of a change of its policy in Afghanistan, combining a civilian surge with a flood of troops into the southern strongholds of the Taliban and its backers.
The command structure, based on a model used in Iraq, will be overseen by the new head of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) command in Afghanistan, U.S. Lieutenant-General Stanley McChrystal.
Experienced in the secretive world of special operations and currently director of the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the three-star General will focus on strategy and other tasks such as liaising with Afghan and NATO leaders and monitoring the training of Afghan security forces.
U.S. Lt.-Gen. David Rodriguez, a former U.S. and NATO commander in eastern Afghanistan, now serving as deputy to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will co-ordinate the day-to-day military operations targeting the insurgents. There will be another top-ranking military officer in charge of implementing the Pentagon's plans to step up the training of Afghan security forces.
Gen. McChrystal was presented to the defense ministers of the 28-nation military alliance and partner-nations Friday; also presented were the details of the U.S. plan to streamline the way the war against terrorists was being fought in Afghanistan.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer spoke for all of the ministers in welcoming the general and wishing him luck.
"Our heads of government have declared NATO's effort in Afghanistan to be the alliance's highest operational priority," Gates said as he introduced McChrystal. "Because General McChrystal will command your young men and women in Afghanistan, the secretary general and I thought it an appropriate courtesy to you to introduce him to you in person and have him present to hear your thoughts in this meeting."
The General, who has been confirmed to receive the fourth star, will take his new command in Kabul Saturday.
NATO's defense ministers are in their second day of a conference in Brussels, and Afghanistan has been the primary subject of discussion.
The centralized command, based in the Afghan capital, will co-ordinate combat operations in the five zones, ensuring that both the ISAF and U.S. forces from more than 40 nations are pulling in the same direction.
On the reconstruction side, the new policy aims at balancing and streamlining the international civilian-military rebuilding teams in conjunction with the Afghan government.
The plan to centralize control over combat operations, Afghan military and police training, and civilian-reconstruction was the result of Obama administration's major policy review on Afghanistan, where the militants are posing ever-increasing challenges even seven years after the Taliban were ousted.
Subsequently, U.S. President Barrack Obama removed Army General David McKiernan as the top commander in Afghanistan and replaced him with the two highly-rated generals.
U.S. officials have urged European states to deliver on pledges to step up commitments to the Afghan effort and be prepared to do more, by sending more troops, funds or experts.
Earlier this week, Appathurai said, the alliance would like to see a European presence in ISAF parallel to the U.S. numbers because "we don't want to see an imbalance in the mission."
More than half of the 60,000-strong NATO-led ISAF currently is American soldiers. This is in addition to a separate U.S. contingent of about 10,000 troops, deployed along the Afghan-Pakistan border.
With an additional deployment of 21,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan later this year, Americans will double the size of European soldiers on security duty in the war-torn country.
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com