Exhibit 928 ยท Press conference transcript
Press Conference with Secretary Gates and Adm. Mullen on Leadership Changes in Afghanistan From the Pentagon
I would say, nothing went wrong, and there was nothing specific. It is -- it simply was my conviction, based on my consultations with Admiral Mullen and General Petraeus, that a fresh approach, a fresh look in the context of the new strategy, probably was in our best interest.
Gates announces that he asked for General David McKiernan's resignation as commander in Afghanistan and recommends Lieutenant General Stanley McChrystal as his replacement. Asked what McKiernan had done wrong, Gates says nothing went wrong and nothing specific prompted the decision. He gives the reason as a need for a fresh approach under the new strategy.
- Source
- U.S. Department of Defense (Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs)
- Date
- 11 May 2009
- Quoted from
- Gates, answer to the reporter's question on what McKiernan did not do (Wayback capture of the defense.gov transcript, TranscriptID=4424)
- Grade
- Primary record
- Document
- https://web.archive.org/web/2009/http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=4424
- Accessed
- 2026-11-10
- Cited by
- Findings citing this exhibit