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A few weeks ago, I wrote about Gen Stanley McChrystal’s actual command of Special Forces from the beginning of his command in Afghanistan – and everyone has seen the reports of McChrystal’s chilling admission in March that:
“We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat.”
- and remembers McChrystal’s COIN sales pitch for the Obama escalation about the measure of success being not insurgents killed but civilians protected. Or as he said at the time:
“We say, ‘We are here for you. We respect and want to protect you’, and then we destroy their home, kill their relatives, destroy their crops,” McChrystal said. “It’s difficult for them to connect those two.”
So isn’t it about time that McChrystal be forced to explain why – under his command – civilian casualties are increasing in Afghanistan, in fact reaching “173 civilian deaths from violence in Afghanistan from March 21 to April 21, marking a 33 percent increase over the same time period last year…”
Amongst those killed:
Two women and a child became the latest innocent victims of Nato forces on Friday after occupation troops sprayed their car with machine-gun fire, Afghan officials have reported.
And:
Late Wednesday night, a relative of an Afghan member of Parliament was shot and killed during an operation involving NATO forces in Nangarhar Province, setting off angry demonstrations the following morning that blocked the main road to Kabul for an hour amid chants of “Death to America.”
The lawmaker, Safia Sidiqi, said troops came to her house just before midnight. She was in Kabul at the time, but she said her brother had called her to say there were thieves outside the house. She said she had called the provincial police and was told that American troops were conducting an operation.
“They came to my house intentionally and killed one of my family members,” she said. “The Americans knew this was my house.”
So General McChrystal, rather than issue another round of regrets, perhaps you could explain why the top commander of international forces in Afghanistan is completely unable to deliver on his promises to protect civilians? Are you unable to command your forces – or have you simply been lying?
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Is ‘both’ an option here?
Because I think he’s both unable to command his forces and lying about what he – and they – are doing.
Siun, thanks for your work spotlighting Stan McChrystal, war criminal.
You learned us.
I disagree. I think his forces are doing precisely what he wants them to do and that he is perfectly aware that he is lying about it.
(Great post, Siun!)
If that’s true, he is murderer, not a soldier. It’s just awful over there.
Both does seem like an option – but clearly, he could insist on new ROE is he wanted to …
BTW, Odierno is now scheduled to leave Iraq when the “withdrawal” happens this August. Of course, the 50,000 troops plus 4500 Special Forces will stay – and have a new General.
Aloha, Siun…! Always a pleasure to see ya…! *g*
This report to Congress which dday highlighted on Friday, which to me seems like a very rosy scenario, says that the increase in violence is due to increased coalition activity (the surge).
http://www.defense.gov/pubs/pdfs/Report_Final_SecDef_04_26_10.pdf
I concur with you…! He’s well briefed/aware of what’s going on…!
Excellent post as always Siun…! ;-)
Lying ?
No,none from this WH.Just imagine if it was GWBush,the countless demands & protest for truth telling we would have seen.
Where is MoveOn & the other so called “liberal” organisations on this issue.
We have been failed by what we thought many of these organisations represents.
We are finished,we don’t have any credible organisations to represent “the truth” ,what we have are organisations that represents either political party & thus there is corruption in almost every place of Govt.
I remember when blogs were going to represent the “truth” as opposed to the dictates of those in power.
Go take a look at the orange colored blog….you know the one.It has become a cheerleader for the Admin truth be damned.
And by what right do we think we claim the moral high ground and are invincible…..oh yeah, Exceptionalism. Not to be cynical, just to say I don’t get it. But I am sickened and appalled.
Indeed…! I swear it is borderline, if not, outright lying to congress…! *gah*
Do you know who the new general will be?
And…with the mess in the gulf coast, wouldn’t you think all resources would be there, and not in Afghanistan?
No one is sure who it will be but Gen Austin who has been 2nd to Odierno looks likely. No change really?
So McCrystal’s strategy is a success. He is doing his part to justify a $30 billion increase in defense spending.
I wonder what the rationale is for using Special Forces troops for these raids instead of regular troops.
There is an interesting essay that discusses Narcissism as the operating affliction of our military leaders, specifically mentioning McChrystal and Petraeus and many of our political leaders.
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2010/05/walrus-on-narcissistic-leaders-.html
This quote sums it up on Mcchrystal:
“Since McChrystal no doubt thinks of his troops as no more than a pack of valuable hunting dogs, why would he possibly consider muzzling them with restrictive rules of engagement to be a problem? “I mean it’s not as if we actually have to succeed in doing good in this god forsaken country, it’s not as if the troops have to care about what is happening, I just need to construct the illusion of success in Afghanistan sufficient to get my next promotion. “
Link?
The people at the Great Orange Satan are, most of them, the same people as you meet here. Which means that you might possibly want to think about what you’re saying.
So that McChrystal can say his command isn’t really responsible for what they do?
It’s in his comment… Pat Lang doesn’t pull his punches…! ;-)
If McChrystal doesn’t have command/control over SF operations and SF troops that’s fucked up. If he can plausibly push responsibility off on SOCOM the SF folks will hide behind the cloak of classified operations. Then there’s CIA with its fuckin’ drones, answerable to nobody.
Siun has already talked about McCrystal and his control over SF…
Special Forces “Hot Potato” Has Been McChrystal’s All Along
I totally agree, Jim. Killing and terrorizing civilians is precisely what counterinsurgency warfare is all about! — Thanks, Siun, for the great article. McChrystal’s words: “We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat” will go down in history with the famous quote about destroying the village to save it.
The U.S. rulers rely on the historical ignorance of its population, most of whom are too young to remember what counterinsurgency warfare looked like in Vietnam. Luckily, we have historians, like Douglas Valentine:
McChrystal was too young to have been in Vietnam, but at Special Forces College at Ft. Bragg, he studied under the men who had been there, and evidently, he learned his lessons well, fine-tuned them in Iraq, and now Obama’s given him carte blanche in Afghanistan.
Who would have thought that Obama’s desire to be another JFK would lead him to embrace the latter’s fascination with special forces warfare?
SF folks shoot up the locals and the regular grunts are the ones targeted in convoy and patrol. Nice consequence of the command structure. Somebody needs to jerk a knot…
I should know the answer to this question but I haven’t thought of it before – are we using Blackwater-type hired guns in Afghanistan?
It needs to be carved into his gravestone…!
Yes and in Pakistan…!
That’s what I was afraid of. Don’t suppose McChrystal has much control over their actions.
I’d love to see him followed around at any appearances here with signs that just say that.
McChrystal has the complete command authority … no cut outs – but he pretends he can’t quite control his own guys.
What a crock. He is a very sick human being IMO.
Teddy Partridge is upstairs!
Sunday Late Night: Bushista II, Gulf Coast Boogaloo
Siun did you see the name of the Operation on Kandahar…?
Operation Omid (Hope, in Dari!)
Yeah.They are those who speak the truth at all times & then they are some who hold from the truth when it confronts their likeness.
The difference between FDL & Orange so far.
I’d think the proof you’ve shown Siun, shows McCrystal to be a lying warmongering running son of a dog.
They target relatives of the Admin that don’t or won’t side with them?
Time to end this story, end the intervention, leave the ME and oil and resources to others.
And to that end, we have to dump our econ leaders, and reinvest in self sustainment for our country, not for the 1% who profit from endless war and the struggle for finite resources and their distribution routes.
Bless ya, once again, ma’am.
A fine report, post and exposee, for that’s what it is, and exposee.
They won’t talk to the media, beyond the general propaganda.
The secret’s of who’s killin who and why, are safe with special forces.
Bless them of sorts, but hoss . . . . . they take orders, execute orders, and ask no questions and tell no stories.
That’s what fuckin fierce warriors do, and I don’t have to tell ya that.
It’s the one midline I can’t resolve between service, and implementation of same.
Well, there IS the entire USAF. But that’s another story.
Yeah, because Special Forces Don’t Talk. To Media, or others, about Special Ops.
Simple.
He’s a hoss, and a great read, over the years during BushCo, and now ObamaCo.
;-)
I take great exception to yer last line unless there was great snark involved.
I’m of the belief JFK was drawing down forces. And CIA, too.
Was ‘Nam any different?
I perhaps condensed my statement on JFK too close to my material on Vietnam. You are right and I am right. JFK was drawing down force levels in Vietnam, or planning it, prior to his assassination. However, this does not change the fact that JFK was a big fan of special forces:
And…
One doesn’t need to vilify political figures, or construct hagiographies. All we need to do is look the entire truth in the face, and in the case of JFK, he bears some responsibility for the policies of counterinsurgency in Southeast Asia, even if possibly was in the process of changing his mind by the time of his death. He was also signing off, apparently, on assassination programs aimed at Castro, and/or subversion his regime. We’ll never know if Kennedy would have fully withdrawn from Vietnam. All we are left is the historical record.
For an independent view of our War Efforts check out Michael Yon.
http://www.michaelyon-online.com/
There is no oil in Afghanistan. There is a ton of copper and natural gas lines going to India. Considering all the techno gadgets that everyone is so in love with contain a lot of copper, that is the only rationale for staying there from a natural resource perspective.
I agree the military is a blunt instrument. It does not discern civilians from guerilla fighters very well. Especially considering we don’t speak the language or understand the culture.
Give teenagers and early 20 somethings guns, tons of boredom punctuated by few moments of high danger and don’t be surprised when lots and lots of civilians get killed. It has been the nature of armies for centuries. Why do we expect things to be different?
We spend millions and millions to desensitive our soldiers to be combat effective in bad situations. The same cold heart that you all deplored in the chests of those Apache pilots a month ago is the same heart that beats in the ground forces in Afghanistan.
They are trained to kill, not be police. Deplore the policy, get us out of there, but the soldiers are only doing what they’ve been trained to do.
Special Forces soldiers are being used to try to bring that sensitivity to the battlefield, but you have to understand, SF has been tasked heavily in the past decade. The same language and customs training that might have been in place during the years of the cold war is gone. They aren’t nearly as specialized as they were before.
In fact on Green Berets would be the only ones that would potentially have that sort of sensitivity. SEALs, Marine Force Recon, Combat Controllers, and whoever else you want to lump in there are no better than Spetsnaz. They are high strung shooters, not relationship builders.