French general fills NATO post in U.S.

NORFOLK -- In a historic change of command, a French general took charge yesterday of NATO's only strategic command in North America as the alliance's secretary-general said he was concerned about growing public skepticism about the war effort in Afghanistan.

In remarks prepared for the change of command, NATO's Anders Fogh Rasmussen said: "The public discourse on the effort in Afghanistan has started to go in the wrong direction."

"What we need is a clear step toward transition to Afghan leadership in all areas -- security, health, education, development and governance," he said after French Gen. Stephane Abrial's change of command before an international audience of 800 military personnel and civilians in the hangar bay of the aircraft carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Flanked by the French and American flags, Abrial became the first non-American officer in the alliance's 60-year history to permanently fill a command post.

Abrial, 55, is one of NATO's two supreme allied commanders, which traditionally are four-star U.S. generals. He succeeds U.S. Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis at NATO's Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk.

Fogh Rasmussen offered his remarks on Afghanistan as an escalation of the war and rising allied casualties have sparked criticism in some NATO nations about the continued military commitment to a mission, which originated as a peacekeeping operation after the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001.

Critics point out that the deaths of civilians in NATO airstrikes and allegations of massive fraud in the recent presidential elections are undermining the legitimacy of the Western-backed government in Kabul.

NATO contributes about two-thirds of the more than 100,000 international troops in Afghanistan.

In Norfolk, Abrial will lead a command that is charged with military modernization for the 28-nation alliance. A total of 720 U.S. and international military personnel and 122 civilians are assigned to the Norfolk command.

The appointment follows France's formal return to NATO in April. President Nicolas Sarkozy was promised the command at NATO's 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg, France.

In exchange for returning its military to NATO's integrated command, France wants the U.S. to drop its objections to the European Union developing an independent defense role.

In 1966, French President Charles de Gaulle pulled France out of the NATO command. He also evicted all allied troops and bases to assert its sovereignty over its own territory.

NATO's Allied Command Operations in Belgium oversees all military operations. The Allied Transformation Command in the United States conducts training, and develops and improves military capabilities for the alliance.