Dan Kelly McNeill (born 23 July 1946) is a retired four-star

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

. He served as Commander, Coalition Forces, Afghanistan from 2002 to 2003 and as Commanding General,

U.S. Army Forces Command The United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) is the largest command of the United States Army. It provides land forces to the Department of Defense's unified combatant commands. FORSCOM is headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and ...

(FORSCOM) from 2004 to 2007. He then served as Commander,

International Security Assistance Force The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386, Resolution 1386 ac ...

(ISAF) in

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

from February 2007 to June 2008. According to ''

Eurasianet Eurasianet is a news organisation based at Columbia University's Harriman Institute, the United States, that provides news, information and analysis on countries in Central Asia, the Caucasus region, Russia and Southwest Asia. Launched in 2000, ...

'', McNeill opposed the local ceasefires and economic development programs that had been favored by the outgoing NATO commander,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

General David Richards. The attempted targeting of

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

commander Abdul Ghafour, through aerial bombardment, on 4 February 2007, was seen as a sign of the policy changes McNeill wanted to introduce.

Officials in several European countries have quietly expressed concern about placing an American general in charge of the NATO force. Richards tried to create a less harsh, more economic-development-oriented identity for NATO in Afghanistan, as compared to the "kicking-down-doors" image that US forces have. Many local analysts expect NATO forces to embrace a more aggressive stance under McNeill, who is believed to oppose the type of local peace arrangements that Richards promoted. The danger at this point is that an overly aggressive NATO force in Afghanistan could alienate Afghans, and thus cause the Taliban’s support base to grow.

McNeill was featured in the academy award-winning documentary ''

Taxi to the Dark Side ''Taxi to the Dark Side'' is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Alex Gibney, and produced by Gibney, Eva Orner, and Susannah Shipman. It won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It focuses on the December 2002 killing ...

'' (2007).https://us.imdb.com/title/tt0854678/ The film captured McNeil refusing to admit 'any blunt force trauma' that caused Dilawar's death, despite the fact that the certificate of death had already stated 'Homicide'.

Awards and decorations

His awards and decorations included theOfficial Army Biography
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNeill, Dan K. 1946 births Living people People from Warsaw, North Carolina United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) United States Army generals Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Legion of Merit North Carolina State University alumni Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal