Change in command will not affect Afghan strategy: Obama

Washington: President Barack Obama says that the US will "not miss a beat" in the Afghan war effort because of the change in command. With two commanders fired in Afghanistan a little more than a year apart, where does the war stand?  Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes they are making some progress but it is slower and harder than anticipated.

And as the controversy over General Stanley McChrystal's Rolling Stone story grew, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says, his main concern was making sure the Afghan mission wasn't disrupted further by firing McChrystal. Gates also says that, it was the president who first suggested replacing him with David Petraeus who helped draw up the new American war plan last fall. Gates further added that, Petraeus is still on board with it, right down to the president's plan to start pulling out American troops next summer.

The Afghan government is welcoming a familiar face. Waheed Omar, Afghan presidential spokesman sayid, "General Petraeus knows the region, General Petraeus knows Afghanistan, he has been overseeing what's happening in Afghanistan and he has had a role in devising this strategy for Afghanistan, so he is no stranger to Afghanistan."
The nation's top military officer Admiral Mike Mullen is also heading there to spread the word to American troops that nothing changes about the strategy or about the mission.
The British commander Lt. Gen. Nick Carter who'll run the war until Petraeus arrives has the same message.

As for that Rolling Stone article, Admiral Mike Mullen says that, "When I first read it, I was nearly sick. It made me literally physically bad. I couldn't believe it."

But with Petraeus likely headed towards quick Senate confirmation, Defense Secretary Robert Gates feels that this is the best possible outcome to an awful situation.