Command Lines Shifting Again in Afghanistan

We previously talked about the new command being stood up in Helmand province, and the change in
doctrinal reporting relationships in McChrystal's chain of command. We even mused about the Marines going
off the reservation for a bit in Afghanistan.

Now comes official word that McChrystal is definitely taking control of the strategic assets in the Af-Pak theater, per CENTCOM directive.

A major reorganization of allied forces in Afghanistan will centralize both American and other foreign troops under the direct command of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the senior U.S. and NATO commander in the theater.

The move, which will further boost McChrystal's authority, came as his boss, Gen. David Petraeus, predicted 2010 will be a difficult year and that the fighting in Afghanistan will "likely get harder before it gets easier." He told the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee he expects American forces to reverse the momentum gained by the Taliban.

Vice Adm. Greg Smith, the top military spokesman in Afghanistan, said the reorganization would integrate most of the 20,000 U.S. troops currently serving in the eastern part of the country under separate command, known as Operation Enduring Freedom, into the 100,000-strong NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.

NATO officials stressed that this will create a streamlined and simplified command structure, since both forces already are under McChrystal's operational control.

'Hunting and targeting'
Smith said the new structure was not an attempt to rein in Special Forces operations, which have been blamed for causing many civilian casualties in recent months. But McChrystal has made it a high priority to avoid civilian deaths since local resentment sparked by such attacks has been a key factor in swelling the ranks of the Taliban insurgency.

"We're out hunting and targeting the Taliban every single day, but not (inside the villages) because that will result in civilian casualties," Smith said. "If an armed robber runs into a home, no police in the world will go in and blow up that house."

The new command structure will not require the deployment of any new forces, he said.

"It's just a matter of moving things from one account in the ledger to another," he said. "For the military, we clearly need unity of command so that elements on the battlefield are not working at cross-purposes with each other."

U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates approved the reorganization before he visited Kabul last week, Smith said. U.S. Marine Corps personnel, currently under the U.S. Central Command, also will now report directly to McChrystal.

By: Brant