A U.S. Army four-star general took command of 35,500 North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led soldiers in Afghanistan, putting an American face on the international mission after nine months of British command.
Gen. Dan K. McNeill is the highest-ranking U.S. general to lead troops in Afghanistan. The transition comes after a year of increased violence following the alliance's push into the Taliban's southern heartland, and military officials said privately that they expected McNeill to take a harder line with militants.
