Karl Eikenberry

Karl Winfrid Eikenberry (born 1951) is a retired United States Army lieutenant general and former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan. He is currently the Frank E. and Arthur W. Payne Distinguished Lecturer at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

Early life and education
Eikenberry was born in 1951 and graduated from Goldsboro High School in Goldsboro, North Carolina in 1969 and then attended West Point, where he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation in 1973.

He received an M.A. in East Asian Studies from Harvard, where he would later return as National Security Fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and an M.A. in political science from Stanford, where he was also a Ph.D candidate. In addition, Eikenberry has studied in Hong Kong at the UK Ministry of Defence Chinese Language School, earning the Foreign Office's Interpreter’s Certificate for Mandarin Chinese, and Nanjing University, earning an advanced degree in Chinese History.

Military career
In the Army, Eikenberry commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 87th Infantry Regiment (Light) in the 10th Mountain Division, and commanded and held staff positions in airborne, ranger, and mechanized infantry units in the United States, Korea and Europe. He also served as an assistant Army attache in the American Embassy in the People's Republic of China, and then as division chief with the Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate of the United States Department of the Army Staff in Washington, D.C.

Eikenberry served two tours of duty in the war in Afghanistan. His first tour in Afghanistan was from September 2002- September 2003. During this time he filled two positions; his primary duty was as the United States Security Coordinator for Afghanistan and the second position was the Chief of the Office of Military Cooperation-Afghanistan (OMC-A). As the Security Coordinator he worked closely with UNSG Special Representative Lakhdar Brahimi to forge a unified international effort to build a cohesive security sector. This Security Sector Reform (SSR) project included building the Afghan National Army (U.S.), reforming the Afghan Police (Germany), Counter-Narcotics (U.K.), Judicial reform (Italy), and Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration of the militias (Japan and U.N.). In his role as Chief of the OMC-A he was the chief architect of the strategy that built and fielded the first Afghan Army Corps. During his second tour he was Commander of the Combined Forces Command for 18 months, leaving in 2007 to become the Deputy Chairman of the NATO Military Committee.

Ambassador


On January 29, 2009, The New York Times reported that President Barack Obama had chosen Eikenberry to be the next U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, replacing William Braucher Wood. The choice of a career army officer for the sensitive post was described by The Times as "highly unusual". On April 3, 2009, the Senate confirmed Eikenberry's nomination, and on April 29, 2009, he was sworn in as the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan. The official announcement of his nomination was made on March 11. Following his confirmation as ambassador, he retired from the U.S. military with the rank of Lieutenant General on April 28, 2009.

Leak of classified cables
In November 2009, Eikenberry sent two classified cables to his superiors in which he assessed the proposed U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. A description of the content of the cables was leaked soon after. In January 2010, the New York Times obtained and published the cables which "show just how strongly the current ambassador feels about President Hamid Karzai and the Afghan government, the state of its military, and the chances that a troop buildup will actually hurt the war effort by making the Karzai government too dependent on the United States." In June 2010, General McChrystal was described in a Rolling Stone magazine story as feeling blindsided by Eikenberry's statements in the leaked cables. On the other hand, Eikenberry is described elsewhere as being frank and vocal about his concerns about the Karzai government as being a reliable or unreliable partner for the U.S. in its efforts in Afghanistan.

Writings

 * http://cgsc.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p124201coll1/id/511/filename/512.pdf

Personal decorations and badges
Eikenberry's personal decorations include:

Foreign military and civil decorations

 * MSC ribbon-military.png Meritorious Service Cross (M.S.C.) Canada
 * CZE Cross of Merit Min-of-Def 1st BAR.svg Cross of Merit of the Minister of Defence of the Czech Republic, First Class
 * Alliance Medal (Hungary)
 * Legion Honneur Officier ribbon.svg French Officer Order of the Legion of Honor
 * State Medal of Ghazi Amir Amanullah Khan (Afghanistan)
 * State Medal of Ghazi Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan (Afghanistan)

Non-U.S. service medals and ribbons

 * NATO Medal for Yugoslavia

Foreign badges

 * German Parachutist Badge (Fallschirmspringerabzeichen)

Other
In August 2007 Eikenberry was given the key to the city of Goldsboro, North Carolina by the mayor.

Interviews

 * Interview with Asia Source (May 2, 2006)
 * Interview with NPR (February 13, 2007)
 * Afghanistan: A Campaign Assessment at Harvard Institute of Politics (March 20, 2007)