David D. McKiernan, the US General who spearheaded the ground invasion of Iraq, was on Tuesday, June 3, given the charge of the 40-nation NATO-led campaign in Afghanistan. Army Gen. David D. McKiernan took over from Gen. Dan McNeill the control of the 51,000-member International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The latter will be retiring from the US Army after serving for 40 long years. 

 

McKiernan addressed a change of command ceremony on Tuesday during which he pronounced that he would feel ‘honored to walk alongside Afghan brothers.’ Underscoring security, reconstruction and development as key focus areas in Afghanistan, the US General David D. McKiernan said that the mission must continue without missing a beat even though the present occasion marked a changeover of commanders.      

 

The President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai too welcomed McKiernan to the country with full confidence that the general would, with assistance from Afghan officers and the Ministry of Defense, serve it well. The Afghan President asked David D. McKiernan and other military officers to keep on equipping and training the Afghan security forces till the nation became robust enough to stand on its own might.