We Are in This to Win, That is Our Clear Objective – General Petraeus

Kabul, Afghanistan (Jul 4) – General David Petraeus took command of US and NATO forces announcing “We are in this to win.”  The ceremony was held at command headquarters in Kabul.

President Obama nominated Petraeus and the Senate confirmed his command last week. General Petraeus recently served as Commander U.S. Central Command and oversaw U.S. support to the NATO ISAF mission. The General will be overseeing more than 140,000 international personnel from 47 nations assigned to ISAF support of the Afghanistan government.

The overall mission is to synchronize security efforts with ongoing improvements in governance and socio-economic developments and to provide an environment for sustained stability.

“As President Obama and NATO Secretary General Rasmussen have noted, my assumption of command represents a change in personnel, not a change in policy or strategy,” Petraeus said. “To be sure, I will, as any new commander should, together with ISAF, Afghan, and diplomatic partners, examine our civil-military effort to determine where refinements might be needed,” adding “I feel privileged to be joining this critical effort at such a pivotal time.”

The General arrived at his command on Friday evening and has been receiving staff briefings along with, meeting key Afghan officials including, President Karzai and U.S. Ambassador Karl Eikenberry.

In a closing statement Petraeus stated, “We must demonstrate to the people and to the Taliban that Afghan and ISAF forces are here to safeguard the Afghan people, and that we are in this to win,” adding “That is our clear objective.”

Posted by rgrone on July 4, 2010. Filed under Afghanistan,Asia Regional News,International News,terrorism,WorldNewsVine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.