Profile: Gen Stanley McChrystal

Gen McChrystal commanded US Special Forces in Iraq

"Getting fresh thinking, fresh eyes on the problem."

That is the reason US Defence Secretary Robert Gates gave for removing Gen David McKiernan as America's military commander in Afghanistan and replacing him with Gen Stanley McChrystal.

Gen McChrystal, with his background in special forces, represents the future of warfare as envisaged by Mr Gates and President Barack Obama - away from conventional military planning, towards modern, asymmetric war fighting.

He is currently the director of the joint staff - one of the most senior military leadership positions in Washington.

Hunting al-Zarqawi

From 2006 until August 2008, he was the forward commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, a secretive body charged at that time with hunting down senior members of al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Al-Qaeda in Iraq's leader - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - was killed by US Special Operations Forces under his command in April 2006.

Gen McChrystal has plenty of experience in Afghanistan as well.

He was chief of staff of the military operations there in 2001 and 2002.

A graduate of the military academy at West Point, he also commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment and served in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Gulf War.

The man he is replacing - Gen David McKiernan - rose to prominence in 2003 as the leader of all coalition and US conventional ground forces during the invasion of Iraq.

Following the invasion, he clashed with Washington over the troop levels needed in the country - he wanted more troops than civilian commanders were prepared to provide.

Time magazine's Joe Klein described Gen McKiernan as "one of our finest generals, especially when it comes to conventional warfare."

"If you need to get a force from the Kuwait border to Baghdad in three weeks, he's the guy to do it."

But his removal from command in Afghanistan suggests President Obama does not believe Gen McKiernan is "the guy" to turn around the coalition's deteriorating military position in central Asia.

He clearly believes that Gen McChrystal's special ops tactics are more likely to get the job done.