Army Gen. David D. McKiernan, commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force and U.S. Forces Afghanistan, delivers an update briefing at a Feb. 18, 2009, Pentagon news conference. DoD photo by R.D. Ward Pentagon Worries Led to Command Change -- Washington Post
McKiernan's Ouster Reflected New Realities in Afghanistan -- and Washington.
In mid-March, as a White House assessment of the war in Afghanistan was nearing completion, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met in a secure Pentagon room for their fortnightly video conference with Gen. David D. McKiernan, the top U.S. commander in Kabul.
There was no formal agenda. McKiernan, a silver-haired former armor officer, began with a brief battlefield update. Then Gates and Mullen began asking about reconstruction and counternarcotics operations. To Mullen, they were straightforward, relevant queries, but he thought McKiernan fumbled them.
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My Comment: I am sure that there is more to this story that what is being told, in particular General McKierman's own comments and point of view.