The newly appointed commander of US forces in Afghanistan is to review military tactics in the region in response to widespread anger about the high number of civilian casualties.![McChrystal, right, was picked by Obama to head US forces in Afghanistan amid a surge in violence [EPA]](http://mwcnews.net/images/stories/US-Forces/1/2/3/4/5/6/McChrystal-Obama.jpg "McChrystal, right, was picked by Obama to head US forces in Afghanistan amid a surge in violence [EPA]")
McChrystal, right, was picked by Obama to head US forces in Afghanistan amid a surge in violence [EPA]
General Stanley McChrystal says his focus will be on balancing the "short-term tactical impact" of operations with the "long-term strategic effect".
In comments to a UK television channel on Friday, he said protecting the population was central to getting the balance right.
The high level of deaths from US air raids and other attacks on suspected Taliban hideouts has become an extremely sensitive issue, with Afghanistan's leaders and the local population openly critical of US forces.
McChrystal, a former commander of special forces in Iraq, is due to take command of the 56,000 US troops and 33,000 others from Nato countries shortly, replacing General David McKiernan, who was effectively dismissed last month.
"One of the things we will do is review all of our rules of engagement and all the instructions to our units, with the emphasis that we are fighting for the population and that involves protecting them both from the enemy and from unintended consequences of our operation," McChrystal said.
"We know that while an operation may be conducted for the right reasons, if it has negative effects it can have a negative outcome for everyone."
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Shielding civilians
An air raid last month in western Afghanistan killed a large number of civilians, with the US military acknowledging 20 to 35 deaths and the Afghan government insisting that the figure is 140.
"The most important part is shielding the Afghan people so they can accept the government of Afghanistan as legitimate and effective," McChrystal said of his priorities.
"So if we win this effort, it will be because we protected the population, and going after the high-value enemy targets will just be a supporting effort to do that."
When asked if he could do with more troops, he said that no general would ever turn down extra forces.
McChrystal acknowledged that the war in Afghanistan had a long way to run and said an overall goal would be preventing al Qaeda's re-emergence.
"The guidance that I've been given as I interpret it is to prevent both al-Qaeda's re-emergence and, in this case, the Taliban taking over Afghanistan, so that we don't have safe havens inside Afghanistan in the future," he said.
Tags: General Stanley McChrystal Afghanistan