President Barack Obama named General David Petraeus to replace General Stanley McChrystal as the top military commander for Afghanistan after McChrystal and his staff made a number of critical and derogatory remarks that appeared in a Rolling Stone article. The president stressed his Afghanistan strategy would remain the same (NYT) despite public setbacks and growing doubt. Choosing Petraeus, attributed with overseeing the turnaround in the Iraq war, may avoid some of the near-term problems associated with removing the commander (WashPost) of a war effort involving 120,000 U.S. and NATO troops, billions of dollars in reconstruction projects, and sensitive diplomatic negotiations. "The decision to name Petraeus is the least disruptive way of removing McChrystal," Bruce Riedel, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, told the Washington Post. "Petraeus knows the strategy inside and out, he knows the plans--he is as much of an architect of this as General McChrystal."

But going forward, questions remain about the efficacy of the strategy and whether Petraeus will be any more successful than McChrystal at employing it. June has been the deadliest month for NATO troops since the war in Afghanistan began, with seventy-nine casualties so far (AFP). Petraeus has already said he would recommend delaying the pullout of U.S. forces (BBC) from Afghanistan beyond 2011 if need be, arguing security and political conditions in Afghanistan must be ready to handle a U.S. drawdown.

Analysis:

In this First Take, Council on Foreign Relations President Richard Haass says it was wise for the president to act swiftly to replace his theater commander and he should act no less decisively in reviewing policy on Afghanistan.

Michael Codner, head of military sciences at the Britain's Royal United Services Institute, examines the nomination of Petraeus (BBC) and whether he has what's needed to "deliver Afghanistan."

CFR's Max Boot notes that the turnaround in Iraq did not happen overnight (NYT) and warns that the increase in casualties in Afghanistan is not "necessarily a sign of impending disaster."

Background:

Read President Obama's speech on the nomination of General Petraeus as top commander for the mission in Afghanistan.

In Foreign Affairs, Stephen Biddle, Fotini Christia, and J. Alexander Thier write that the West's attempt to build a centralized government in Afghanistan fits poorly with the country's history and political culture. The most realistic models of governance are decentralized democracy and a system of internal mixed sovereignty.