By Hadi Mayar, Abdul Haleem

The last week induction of Gen. Stanley McChrystal as new commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan was not just a change of guard, it was also the change of strategy to rein in the burgeoning Taliban insurgency in a rather more effective way.

Gen. McChrystal, who previously commanded the US elite special operations in Iraq, replaced Gen. David McKiernan, who was fired last month by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates in an unceremonious manner.

The new general, who previously led the Joint Special Operation Command (JSOC), has a long history in the elite special operations.

President Barack Obama, while announcing his new Afghan policy on 27 March, had not only given a regional perspective to the Taliban insurgency -- rather than confining it to Afghanistan, but also classified the insurgents in core elements and the moderate insurgents.

While the moderate Taliban are to be detached from the hardcore elements through different incentives, the core insurgents have to be tackled more aggressively.

However, two months after the declaration of the new strategy, neither has any step been taken to replicate the much trumpeted Al-Anbar model in Iraq to muster tribal support against the insurgents and allure the moderate among the Taliban, nor were any strong blows dealt at the hardcore militants.

As a result, violence reached its highest level since 2001 just two weeks ago as insurgent attacks soared by 59 percent to 5,222 incidents from January through May, compared with 3,283 attacks in the first five months of 2008.

While at the regional level, managers of Obama's war on terror have exerted pressure on Pakistan to plug the entry of insurgents from across the border, inside Afghanistan, their focus is on a more offensive approach to contain the Taliban insurgency.

Given his past history, McChrystal's appointment was very much part of this strategy. While in Iraq, he was credited with the killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the capture of former Iraqi president, Saddam Hussein by the JSOC forces.

However, he is also criticized for incidents like torture of prisoners in the Abu Ghrab jail and Pat Tillman friendly fire incidents add to his list of dreaded combat acts.

That is perhaps the reason that Pentagon hopes that his induction will turn the tide in an increasingly violent eight-year war, as American media reports.

Over the past two months, counter-insurgency activities have intensified in Afghanistan's southern and southeastern provinces and in their operations, the Afghan and Coalition forces seem more proactive and aggressive as compared to the past.

American Marines have already poured into Helmand province the last several weeks in an effort to stamp out an insurgency which has a stronghold in the world's largest opium-poppy growing region.

However, it still remains to be seen whether they would succeed to stem the rising tide of the insurgency, which is both escalating and intensifying.

McChrystal is expected to take a more unconventional approach to the increasingly violent campaign in Afghanistan, utilizing decades of experience in special operations -- elite military units that typically carry out dangerous and secretive missions.

"The international mission must recapture the excitement and inspiration that ignited this country," McChrystal said while speaking at a ceremony held in Kabul on the occasion of his induction.

Civilian casualties during military operations have long been a point of friction between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the United States.

In early May, dozens of civilians were killed when US and Afghan troops backed by U.S. fighter aircraft battled militants in southwestern Farah province. According to the Afghan government, 140 people including women and children had been killed.

President Karzai has repeatedly emphasized that the most important element of the war on terror is to protect Afghan civilians. McChrystal has already pledged to reduce the number of Afghan villagers killed in fighting, saying he intends to review US and allied operating procedures with an eye to minimizing civilian deaths.

"The Afghan people are at the center of our mission. In reality, they are the mission. We must protect them from violence, whatever its nature," he added.

"But while operating with care, we will not be timid," he further noted.

McChrystal and the force at his command might spare no efforts in bringing in viable peace and stability in Afghanistan but let us see whether the means at his hand are sufficient to root out insurgents and associated factors contributing to instability. The coming months and years will answer the question.

(Xinhua News Agency June 22, 2009)