Karzai meets new troops chief

June 15, 2009|Jason Straziuso, Associated Press

KABUL - President Hamid Karzai met with the new incoming commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan yesterday and told him that the most important part of his mission was to protect Afghan civilians.

General Stanley McChrystal takes up his new command today. The four-star US general, a former special forces commander, is expected to bring a fresh approach to an increasingly violent eight-year war.

Civilian casualties have long been a point of friction between Karzai and the United States, and the early warning reflects Karzai's impatience over the continued killings of Afghan villagers during military operations.

The Afghan government "will fully cooperate with you toward achieving this very important goal" of protecting civilians, Karzai's office said in a statement.

McChrystal replaces General David McKiernan, who was fired by Defense Secretary Robert Gates one year into his two-year assignment.

During his confirmation hearing in Washington, McChrystal said his measure of effectiveness would not be the number of enemy killed. "It will be the number of Afghans shielded from violence," he said.

McChrystal assured Karzai that he would take "practical measures to prevent civilian casualties during counterinsurgency operations," Karzai's office said.

In early May, dozens of civilians were killed when US and Afghan troops backed by US fighter aircraft battled militants in southwestern Farah Province. The Afghan government says 140 civilians died, while an Afghan human rights group says around 100 were killed. The United States, however, says no more than 30 civilians were killed.

McChrystal will lead the largest international force in Afghanistan since the US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban in 2001.