counterinsurgency, Replacing a four-star commander of a warzone,

The Afghan Imperative
By DAVID BROOKS
Fighting the Afghan war the easy way hasn’t worked. Only the full counterinsurgency doctrine offers a chance of success.



The New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and Wall Street Journal's world-wide newsbox lead with the firing of the top American commander in Afghanistan. Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced yesterday that he had requested the resignation of Gen. David McKiernan, who had been in the job for less than a year, because the Pentagon needs "fresh thinking" and "fresh eyes" on Afghanistan. McKiernan will be replaced by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the director of the Pentagon's Joint Staff who recently ran the secretive special operations forces in Iraq. McChrystal has lots of experience in counterinsurgency operations and is widely expected to quickly institute changes to U.S. and NATO strategy in Afghanistan. Replacing a four-star commander of a warzone is exceedingly rare, and several papers mention that it looks like it's the first time this has happened since President Harry Truman removed Gen. Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War.

counterinsurgency
n.

Political and military strategy or action intended to oppose and forcefully suppress insurgency.

counterinsurgent coun'ter·in·sur'gent n.