Stanley McChrystal

General Stanley A. McChrystal, USA (born August 14, 1954) is the current Commander for International Security Assistance Force and Commander for U.S. forces in Afghanistan, having been appointed in June 2009. Previously he served as Commander of the Joint Special Operations Command, where is credited for the death of Al-Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Until then General McChrystal mostly kept a low profile.

After graduating from West Point in 1976, McChrystal worked on a U.N. Command Support Group in South Korea, and later served as an Army briefer and commanded the 75th Ranger Regiment in Saudi Arabia during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. In 2001, he was appointed chief of staff of military operations in Afghanistan. He led the Army's Delta Force, which is credited for the December 2003 capture of Saddam Hussein. Most recently, McChrystal has requested to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for an additional 30,000-40,000 additional troops in Afghanistan.