American military leader in Afghanistan relieved of duties

Maj. Gen. Peter Fuller, a top American commander in Afghanistan, was relieved of his duties Friday because of remarks he made in an interview with Politico this week.

In the interview, Politico reported, Fuller blasted Afghan President Hamid Karzai for recetly saying that Afghanistan would side with Pakistan in a war against the United States. "Why don't you just poke me in the eye with a needle!" Fuller said. "You've got to be kidding me …I'm sorry, we just gave you $11.6 billion and now you're telling me, 'I don't really care'?"

In announcing the decision to relieve Fuller, Gen. John R. Allen, commander of International Security Assistance Force, said his "unfortunate comments are neither indicative of our current solid relationship with the government of Afghanistan, its leadership, or our joint commitment to prevail here in Afghanistan."

Fuller had been leading NATO's effort to develop national institutions to manage procurement, contracting, budgeting, infrastructure building and training for the 352,000-strong Afghan National Security Force, which includes the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police.

Fuller spoke at a Government Executive Media Group event Thursday in Washington. There, he also discussed the challenges facing the U.S. in Afghanistan, but his remarks were more measured than in the Politico interview. "We think this is an achievable mission," he said of the effort to train Afghan security forces. "We've invested a lot of blood and U.S. treasure. Don't abandon it before we get to the end state."