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General McChrystal's Real Problem: What His Own Soldiers Think.
Maggie's Notebook ^ | June 22, 2010 | Maggie M. Thornton

Posted on 06/22/2010 8:21:29 AM PDT by maggiesnotebook

General McChrystal gave a Rolling Stone Magazine freelancer unprecedented access to the every day life of fighting the war in Afghanistan. Apparently, the writer 'came, saw, listened and wrote' ...

The writer of the Rolling Stone piece, Michael Hastings, accompanied McChrystal to an out-post in the Kandahar area of Afghanistan. A 23-year-old soldier had just died as he entered a booby-trapped home. Unit Commanders sought permission to blow-up the property, and that permission was denied...

(Excerpt) Read more at maggiesnotebook.blogspot.com ...


TOPICS: Politics
KEYWORDS: afghanistan; mcchrystal; nationalsecurity; rollingstone
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1 posted on 06/22/2010 8:21:30 AM PDT by maggiesnotebook
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To: maggiesnotebook

Did McChrystal write the ROE? I don’t believe so.


2 posted on 06/22/2010 8:23:48 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: maggiesnotebook
From Politco:

Hastings, who has covered the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for two years, according to the magazine, is not well known within the Defense Department.

And as a freelance reporter, Hastings would be considered a bigger risk to be given unfettered access compared to a beat reporter who would risk burning bridges by publishing many of McChrystal’s remarks.

3 posted on 06/22/2010 8:26:31 AM PDT by TexasCajun
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To: skeeter
"Did McChrystal write the ROE? I don’t believe so."

That's my question too!!

If anyone can answer, Were the ROE put in place by Obama & his advisors - or by General McCrystal?

4 posted on 06/22/2010 8:32:48 AM PDT by LADY J (Change your thoughts and you change your way of life.. - Norman Vincent Peale)
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To: maggiesnotebook

bookmark


5 posted on 06/22/2010 8:33:07 AM PDT by kalee (The offences we give, we write in the dust; Those we take, we engrave in marble. J Huett 1658)
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To: maggiesnotebook
It's 20 pages from the "Air War College Air University",
but for anyone who really wants to understand this delicate quandary,
Please read Divided Loyalties: Civil-Military Relations at Risk.
6 posted on 06/22/2010 8:34:03 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's simple, fight or die.)
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To: LADY J

He may not have written the ROE, but he is not well liked over there. Removing almost all morale comforts does not sit well with those in-country.


7 posted on 06/22/2010 8:34:24 AM PDT by Anitius Severinus Boethius
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To: maggiesnotebook

McChrystol is more worried about defeating the USMC than he is the Taliban.


8 posted on 06/22/2010 8:39:14 AM PDT by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office)
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To: maggiesnotebook
So what do you think? Will McChrystal be fired or only humiliated? Who knows, maybe McChrystal will quit. I think he is beyond frustrated. Any real soldier would be.

McChrystal's loyalty is to his men and the Service, so I would guess that Obama is looking for a way to fire him that doesn't send tremors through the entire military.

One has to wonder what is going on behind the scenes.

I have always suspected that Gates was entrenching himself in the Pentagon, not to serve Obama, but to serve as a buffer between the Administration and the military.

And I wonder now if McChrystal's actions aren't calculated to send a message to Obama. Obama is weaker now than ever and if there were ever a time to "send a message" to Obama to amend his ways re: the military, this might be it.

Of course, my opinion and $5 will get you a Mocha Frappuccino at Starbucks.;-)

9 posted on 06/22/2010 8:47:09 AM PDT by SonOfDarkSkies (I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself...)
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To: Yosemitest
Sometimes an officer is called upon to sacrifice his comfort or career rather than his life.

And when good men are sacrificing their lives and their comfort in a foreign theatre, is it too much to expect those who order them around to remember their oaths to the Constitution and put their careers on the line at some point???

10 posted on 06/22/2010 8:52:24 AM PDT by Uncle Chip (TRUTH : Ignore it. Deride it. Allegorize it. Interpret it. But you can't ESCAPE it.)
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To: Anitius Severinus Boethius
"He may not have written the ROE, but he is not well liked over there. Removing almost all morale comforts does not sit well with those in-country."

I've read some conflicting articles - some say the troops don't like him & some say that the troops love & respect him.

It's difficult to decide what the truth is. Is he running this war - or is Obama making the rules?

11 posted on 06/22/2010 8:56:21 AM PDT by LADY J (Change your thoughts and you change your way of life.. - Norman Vincent Peale)
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To: skeeter

He got his job by agreeing to them. If he had balls he would have said I couldn’t win a war with these ROE, but he didn’t, he bent over and took it.


12 posted on 06/22/2010 8:59:59 AM PDT by Recon Dad ( Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things)
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To: maggiesnotebook
On a slightly different note:
"McChrystal has championed a counterinsurgency strategy that prioritizes protecting the population as a means to marginalize and ultimately defeat the insurgency. Because new rules sharply restrict the circumstances under which air strikes and other lethal operation that have resulted in civilian casualties can be conducted, some soldiers say the strategy has left them more exposed."

Sorry, but "protecting the population" should not extend to protection of those who are shooting at you or those who abet them in shooting at you.

13 posted on 06/22/2010 9:05:40 AM PDT by norton
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To: LADY J

I think the troops don’t like his style and respect him as a leader. You can both respect and dislike someone.


14 posted on 06/22/2010 9:05:42 AM PDT by Anitius Severinus Boethius
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To: Uncle Chip
You have to remember WHO Barack Hussein Obama II "IS."

Shall we review?

The Democrats and FASCIST Obama are DOING IT ON PURPOSE!!!!




Here's the mind of Fascist Obama, from another poster LomanBill.


So you see, FASCIST Obama is currently on stage III of their plan "bring the country to the verge of crisis".

Don't you see it?

Wasn't it Thomas Jefferson who wrote

And then again when he wrote


15 posted on 06/22/2010 9:05:44 AM PDT by Yosemitest (It's simple, fight or die.)
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To: Yosemitest

Wow. That was really on the money. I think the Bezmenov interview needs to be played on every radio and TV station, in the schools including colleges, and in Congress.

We are not dealing with bumbling idiots. Even Obama is only appearing as a bumbling idiot while he actually accomplishes exactly what he’s after.


16 posted on 06/22/2010 9:15:26 AM PDT by butterdezillion (.)
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To: Anitius Severinus Boethius

Sounds like he’s another ‘perfumed prince’ ala Wesley Clark.


17 posted on 06/22/2010 9:16:00 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Recon Dad

Hopefully he’ll redeem himself by taking the punk in the WH down further than he already is.


18 posted on 06/22/2010 9:20:42 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: maggiesnotebook

Does anyone want to make a bet that this article will be in RS come Friday?


19 posted on 06/22/2010 9:28:11 AM PDT by sportutegrl
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To: SonOfDarkSkies

Theater Commanders like McChrystal get thier orders and direction through the Chief of Staff, US Army, who in turn gets his direction and orders from Joint Chiefs of staff or directly from CinC (US President).

The ROE for Afghanistan may have been dictated from above, but McChrystal embraced it. He even went so far as to staff (study) the creation of a medal for soldiers who refrain from firing even at the risk of injury or death to themselves or their fellow soldiers.

Apparently he has inaugurated many policies within Theater that affect soldiers morale and welfare.

It’s unclear at this time why McChyrstal gave a Rollilng Stones writer, no doubt with an anti-military bias, this kind of carte blanche access to the battlefield and individual soldiers. But, IMHO, it is consistent with McChrystal’s past actions and words.

He seems to think of himself as some kind of wunderkind who sees things nobody else sees and acts on it. The only problem with him thinking he’s the smartest person in the room is that he puts our soldier’s lives on the line at the same time.


20 posted on 06/22/2010 9:29:03 AM PDT by dools007
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