Afstan: New commanders for ISAF and US forces

I wonder how long it will take for the usual suspects amongst our politicians, pundits and "experts" to start howling that we're just doing the evil Americans' bidding (paras out of sequence).

On Sunday [Feb. 4], [UK General David]Richards will turn over command to U.S. Gen. Dan K. McNeil, who will take charge of the more than 40,000 ISAF troops from 37 nations in Afghanistan.

The U.S. has about 24,000 troops in the country, including about 12,000 under the command of NATO’s ISAF.
[...]

Maj. Gen. David M. Rodriguez took command of U.S. troops in Afghanistan on Friday [Feb. 2] as part of a routine rotation that has seen the bulk of 10th Mountain Division troops replaced by soldiers from the 82nd Airborne...

The outgoing commanding general, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, said Afghanistan still faces a “strong threat” from Taliban and other militant groups, but that fighters have been weakened over the last year...

Freakley, whose troops helped build or refurbish 120 schools during their yearlong rotation, said he believes the billions of dollars the U.S. is spending for reconstruction in Afghanistan is helping to convince Afghans to support their fledgling government and turn away from the Taliban.

Freakley leaves behind 3,200 10th Mountain soldiers who had their one-year tour extended by four months after commanders requested more troops for Afghanistan. They are due home in June.

The rest of the 10th Mountain Division troops are returning to their home base in Fort Drum, N.Y...

Update: And I wonder what this will mean in practice:

Military officials have said privately that the change of command [of ISAF] will mark a new approach in dealing with resurgent Taliban militants.