Afghans do not expect change from U.S. shake-up

Afghanistan expressed regret on Thursday at the removal of the U.S. commander credited with reducing civilian casualties in the war against the Taliban but said it did not expect the shake-up to bring strategic changes. President Barack Obama recalled General Stanley McChrystal, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, and replaced him on Wednesday with McChrystal's boss, General David Petraeus, architect of the Iraq war turnaround. McChrystal resigned after comments, mostly attributed to aides, appeared in a magazine profile that criticized some of Obama's closest advisers. The profile portrayed him as a derring-do soldier sometimes exasperated by politicians. "We wish he hadn't gone, but this is America's internal issue," said General Zaher Azimi, a spokesman for the Afghan defense ministry. "We expect him to follow McChrystal's assessment, which has reduced civilian casualties, brought down arrests and house searches and involved coordination on operations," he said. DEADLY MONTH The war has reached a critical stage in Afghanistan, despite the presence of around 150,000 foreign troops, with the Taliban at their strongest since being overthrown in 2001. June has already been the costliest month in casualties for foreign forces, with the deaths of four service members in a vehicle accident late on Wednesday bringing the toll to 79. More than 300 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan this year, compared with 521 for all of last year, according to icasualties.org. Scores more insurgents have died, but hundreds of civilians have also been killed -- most in Taliban bombings, but many too in crossfire or misdirected air strikes. With the Taliban virtually bringing tens of thousands of foreign troops to a bloody stalemate, Afghanistan has been seeking ways to bring an end to nearly nine years of fighting. Earlier this month, some 1,600 elders and religious leaders met in Kabul for a peace "jirga," or conference, where participants agreed the only way to end bloodshed was to reach out to the insurgents. Apart from agreeing to start negotiations with the militants, the jirga also recommended a review of the cases of all prisoners in Afghanistan, including suspected insurgents, and a removal of Taliban figures from a U.N. sanctions list. Completing a four-day visit to the country, ambassadors from the 15-nation U.N. Security Council said they were reviewing the 137-name U.N. blacklist case by case. At least five of those named are former Taliban officials who serve in parliament or privately mediate between the government and insurgents battling NATO-led forces and their Afghan partners. "TRICKY" The Taliban said Obama had sacked McChrystal in order to shift blame for policy failures. "Obama's strategy is a failure but he is tricky by washing his hands on McChrystal in order to maintain his own image and that of his party in America and the world," a spokesman said in a statement. Afghanistan's conflict cannot be resolved by a shake-up of generals, the statement said, adding Petraeus was not as smart as McChrystal and even questioning his physical strength, noting his collapse during a congressional hearing last week. McChrystal's counter-insurgency strategy aims to take on the Taliban where they are strongest, in their Kandahar spiritual homeland in the south, and boost security simultaneously with a push for improved civilian governance and development. Petraeus, as commander of U.S. forces in Iraq, was widely credited with turning the tide there with a similar strategy when sectarian violence verged on civil war. While he has a strong following on Capitol Hill and swift Senate confirmation is expected, a key first task will be forging a good relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Since McChrystal took over as commander in June last year, he has formed a strong relationship with the Afghan president, accompanying him on several tours of the country in a bid to show support for the government. The Afghan president expressed regret at McChrystal's departure, a spokesman said. "We had hoped this would not have happened, but the decision has been made and we respect it," said spokesman Waheed Omer. "He looks forward to working with his replacement." Obama said McChrystal's dismissal was needed to safeguard the unity of the war effort but insisted the switch in generals was a "change in personnel but it is not a change in policy." In the field, some U.S. troops said they expected business as usual. "General Petraeus is of the mind if something is not broken don't fix it," said First Sergeant Todd Sullivan in a mess hall at a camp in Gurgan, Kandahar.