KABUL, Afghanistan, June 27, (Agencies): A Nato spokesman stressed Sunday that military operations to secure vast areas of Afghanistan would not be delayed by the ouster of the top commander in the war and mounting casualties.
Nato and US forces are continuing their work as they await the arrival of new commander Gen David Petraeus. He is taking over from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who was ousted by President Barack Obama after he and his aides were quoted in Rolling Stone magazine making disparaging remarks about top Obama administration officials.
There has been concern that the leadership shake-up will further slow a push into the volatile south that has already been delayed by weeks in some areas and months in others. But Nato spokesman Brig. Josef Blotz told reporters in Kabul that the worries are unwarranted and the military is not pausing because of the changes.
“We will not miss a beat in our operations to expand security here in Afghanistan,” Blotz said, repeating the assurances of many diplomats in recent days that the change in leadership does not mean a re-evaluation of strategy. The top American military officer, Adm Mike Mullen, flew to Afghanistan on Saturday to assure President Hamid Karzai that Petraeus would pursue the policies of his predecessor, including efforts to reduce civilian casualties.
Blotz said Petraeus was expected in Kabul in the next seven to 10 days.
Operations appear to be continuing apace, according to Nato statements. Two recent air strikes in the north, east and south killed at least nine militants, including two local Taliban commanders, Nato and Afghan officials said. No civilians were injured, Nato said.
Eight other militants were killed in a Nato-Afghan military operation in eastern Ghazni province, according to Gen. Khail Buz Sherzai, the provincial police chief.
Nato deaths also are climbing daily. A US service member was killed in a bomb attack in the south and two others in a firefight in the east on Sunday, said Col Wayne Shanks, a US forces spokesman.
June has become the deadliest month of the war for Nato troops with at least 93 killed, 56 of them American. For US troops, the deadliest month was October 2009, with a toll of 59 dead.
Blotz said the deaths do show that the fight is getting harder in Afghanistan, but said that does not affect Nato’s resolve.
“We are in the arena. There is no way out now. We have to stay on. We have to fight this campaign,” he said.
US General Stanley McChrystal issued a highly critical assessment of the war in Afghanistan just days before he was sacked by President Barack Obama, a British newspaper reported Sunday. The Independent on Sunday said leaked military documents showed McChrystal had briefed defence ministers from the countries involved in the war earlier this month and warned them to expect no progress in the next six months.
McChrystal was forced to step down as commander of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan due to disparaging remarks about administration officials, including Obama, in an explosive Rolling Stone magazine article.
But the newspaper suggested the article was only one reason why the general quit, saying his candour about the reality of the situation in Afghanistan was an obstacle to plans for an early US withdrawal.
“Stan argued for time, and would not compromise. Rolling Stone provided an excuse for Obama to fire the opposition to his plan without having to win an intellectual argument,” it quoted an unnamed senior military source as saying.
According to the paper, McChrystal had said corruption and security remained serious issues as foreign forces battled a “resilient and growing insurgency”.
He said the Afghan security forces were “critically short on trainers — the essential resource required for quality”, while the Afghan government had little control over the country.