Risky Ouster of Australian Prime Minister

Obama Ousts Top U.S. General in Afghanistan
GLOBEANDMAIL: WASHINGTON — America's top general in Afghanistan was ousted Monday, a casualty of President Barack Obama's massive expansion of the war that will surge tens of thousands of troops into Taliban-infested areas in southern Afghanistan, where Canadians have been fighting and dying for years.

The forced ouster of Lieutenant-General David McKiernan and his replacement by Lieutenant-General Stanley McChrystal, a commander with a controversial background in clandestine warfare and special operations, spearheads a new counter-insurgency strategy.

Fighting the raging Taliban insurgency that threatens Afghanistan “requires new thinking and new approaches by our military leaders,” U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday[.]

The move comes as Washington takes even greater control of the flagging NATO effort to shore up a shaky government in Kabul, stem the flow of insurgents and weapons streaming back and forth across the border with Pakistan and avert a Taliban renaissance. >>> Paul Koring | Monday, May 11, 2009