Petraeus steps down in Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan - General David Petraeus stepped down as US commander in Afghanistan on Monday after a checkered year at the helm of what is the US' longest war.

At a ceremony in Kabul Petraeus passed the baton to John Allen, a former subordinate who made his name in Iraq by striking tribal alliances considered integral in reversing al-Qaida's momentum after years of appalling violence.

Petraeus oversaw a surge of tens of thousands of troops into Afghanistan in a last-ditch bid to reverse a nearly 10-year Taliban insurgency and although he has claimed some progress, violence remains at record highs.

Flanked by Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, top US Marine General James Mattis, NATO commander General Wolf Langheld and his replacement, Petraeus handed over his role in a passing of flags.

Petraeus is leaving to head up the CIA, after a week in which Afghan President Hamid Karzai saw his younger brother and a key aide assassinated at their homes, and as NATO began transitioning areas of the country to Afghan control.

Petraeus warned that a tough fight remained, making reference to Taliban and al-Qaida hideouts across Afghanistan's eastern border in Pakistan.

"There is nothing easy about such a fight especially when the enemy can exploit sanctuaries outside the country," he said.

"But ensuring that al-Qaida can never establish a sanctuary here again is a hugely important object and the enemy should not question the determination of Afghanistan or Afghans or the coalition to achieve it."

But the outgoing commander directed most of his words to praise the nearly 150,000 troops serving in Afghanistan and credit his successor Allen as "the right man for the job".

Despite the troop surge, UN statistics released last week show that 1,462 civilians died in the first six months of 2011, an increase of 15 percent, and putting this year on track to be the deadliest in a decade.

Last Tuesday's killing of Ahmed Wali Karzai, probably the most powerful man in southern Afghanistan and younger half-brother of the Afghan president, has also been considered a threat to US gains against the Taliban in Kandahar.

Sunday night's killing of one of his closest allies, senior adviser Jan Mohammad Khan, a former governor of southern Uruzgan Province, in a raid on his Kabul home has been seen as another loss for the president.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for both killings.

Petraeus took charge in Afghanistan under extraordinary circumstances after US President Barack Obama sacked his predecessor, Stanley McChrystal, over scathing remarks made to Rolling Stone magazine about the White House administration.

Agence France-Presse

(China Daily 07/19/2011 page11)