3 U.S. Officials Leave, Fueling Afghan Fears

The New York Times reports:

When via State Dept. Web site" href="http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/biog/123456.htm">Karl W. Eikenberry’s father knew he had only a few months left to live, he told his son his greatest regret was that he would not be around to see what happened next.

That is how Mr. Eikenberry says he feels now, as he prepares to step down as the American ambassador to Afghanistan, after nearly a decade of working here, as a general during two tours, as a NATO official and for the past two and a half years as ambassador.

“One of the hard parts of leaving is you just don’t know how some of the big things are going to turn out,” said Mr. Eikenberry, quoting his father and drawing the parallel to his own imminent departure.

He will not be the only person to leave with that question: in the same three-week period, two other powerful figures will leave. Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commanding general here, will lead the Central Intelligence Agency, and Lt. Gen. David M. Rodriguez, the No. 2 commanding general and the man who has been running the war day to day, will run the United States Army Forces Command, which prepares troops going overseas.

The three have presided over a period when American military and civilian power and spending in Afghanistan were at their zenith, and their departures mark the end of an era.

From an American policy standpoint, the changing of the guard means little, but from the Afghan standpoint, in which a leader’s personality can determine the policy, the triple departure, along with President Obama’s June 22 speech on the withdrawal of troops, has stoked fears of abandonment, especially for Afghans who have depended on the Americans.