The buzz on McKiernan's sacking

Somewhere between McKiernan and McChrystal must be a colossal tactical error in the field that likely caused this sudden change of command in Afghanistan.

You only had to listen to the notably terse tone of comments at Monday’s press conference to know that there must be something big behind the stripping down of McKiernan that almost certainly spells the end of his military career.

With the announcement by Defense Secretary Robert Gates Monday that Gen. David McKiernan would be forced to step down, the Pentagon was telling us that he committed a significant error in the field.

And so the big question inside the Pentagon right now is what did he do to be shown the door in such a hasty and harsh manner?

One former Pentagon official suggested to GlobalPost that the airstrike that killed civilians in western Afghanistan last week was an embarrassment to the military and President Barack Obama and may have precipitated a shakeup that had been in the works for some weeks.  

The broad fault line within the military as it gears up for a surge in Afghanistan is between those who pursue a conventional approach and those skilled in the unconventional aspects of war.

For sure, McKiernan embodies the old-school, more conventional approach and Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, is the embodiment of a newer and more unconventional thinking.

McChrystal, a Green Beret and Ranger who has commanded several key Special Operations, is Gen. David Petraeus’ kind of leader, who has a proven ability to think and act decisively and creatively in the field.

McChrystal’s success in using unconventional counter-insurgency intelligence gathering and strategies to track and kill Abu Musab al Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq is something that Petraeus frequently highlights as a shining example of the kind of counter-insurgency that he embraces as the head of central command.

He has had a stellar career with one notable exception. The  military investigation into the 2004 death of Cpl. Pat Tillman held McChrystal accountable in part for the false information that was given to the public about the circumstances surrounding Tillman’s death and the recommendation that he receive a silver star.

It turned out Tillman, a professional football player whose decision to enlist after Sept. 11, 2001 was played up by the military, was killed by friendly fire and not in a gun battle as was originally stated.

There are more questions here that need to be answered. This move goes beyond that broad dividing line within in the military and the Pentagon reporters will be scrambling to find out what really lies at the bottom of this profound shift in Afghanistan on the cusp of the surge of some 20,000 troops there.  

http://www.globalpost.com/notebook/worldview/090512/sacking-commander-afghanistan