Isle general’s
job twofold

The new commander plans
to keep hunting insurgents and
helping Afghans to rebuild

GOLDSBORO, N.C. » A Hawaii-based general who helped rebuild Afghanistan's army and who takes over next month as commander of U.S.-led forces there said his job is to continue rooting out insurgents while helping rebuild the country.

Army Lt. Gen. Karl Eikenberry, who will assume command of the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan next Tuesday, was in Wayne County last week to visit his father, Harry.

Eikenberry came to Goldsboro when he was a sophomore at Goldsboro High, and he graduated from there in 1969.

As the leader of the Combined Forces Command in Afghanistan, Eikenberry said his job will be twofold. The forces will continue to prosecute the war against the remnants of Al-Qaida and the Taliban, he said.

"There still remains some very determined leadership that's out there that is making a continuing effort to try to disrupt the government of Afghanistan and to make a comeback," Eikenberry said. "But like any classic insurgency, you measure not in months, but years the amount of time that's needed to knock it out."

The other half of his job involves reconstruction of the country's infrastructure.

"That's a very broad effort," Eikenberry said. "The coalition forces are continuing to help the Afghan government with efforts to improve their ability to govern, economic reconstruction efforts and to build their security forces."

Eikenberry referred to last year's Afghan elections, expressing confidence that the democratic process is starting to take hold.

"There's a long way to go," he said, "but clearly there's traction now. There's momentum."

Eikenberry lives with his wife, Ching, in Pearl Harbor. They have two daughters, Jennifer and Kelly. His mother, Mary, lives in Raleigh, N.C.

Eikenberry previously was director of strategic planning for the U.S. Pacific Command at Camp Smith in Hawaii. He replaces Lt. Gen. David Barno, who took charge of the Afghan operation in November 2003.

Barno's term has seen the 18,000-strong U.S.-led coalition shift its focus from the so-far fruitless search for top fugitives, including Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden and Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, toward operations in support of the new Afghan government.

Eikenberry served from September 2002 to September 2003 as head of the U.S. military's office for military cooperation, which is charged with establishing the Afghan national army.

The Afghan army currently numbers around 18,000 and is expected to reach its full strength of 70,000 in 2007.