Posted on 09/07/2009 6:50:25 PM PDT by Saije
After a Nato airstrike killed as many as 125 people last week, General Stanley McChrystal was keen to get the situation under control — fast.
When he tried to contact his underlings to find out what had happened, however, he found, to his fury, that many of them were either drunk or too hungover to respond.
Complaining in his daily Commander’s Update that too many people had been “partying it up”, General McChrystal, head of International Forces in Afghanistan (Isaf), banned alcohol at his headquarters yesterday,
(Excerpt) Read more at timesonline.co.uk ...
it is banned for US military. maybe he had a NATO officer or two that he had tried to call upon at an early hour and they were drunk. that’s quite possible.
It is, this was German troops.
Muslims don’t like alcohol.....
Oh. I thought it didn’t seem right, if it was supposed to be US troops. Don’t envy the General, dealing with foreign soldiers who don’t operate by the same rules, part of the joy of an international coalition I guess.
German soldiers in northern Afghanistan have been criticised for calling in an American F15 Strike Eagle to drop two 500lb bombs on a pair of hijacked fuel tankers in Kunduz at about 2.30am on Friday. Scores of local people who had gathered to siphon fuel from the lorries were killed in the explosions.
yeah right...in public that is....kind of like Baptists...the moslem whckos will saw your head off, kill their daughters, prevent girls from being educated, blow up school children, drive planes into buildings.....but they are against alcohol...how impressive that must be to allah, or God or whoever
His hosts, at Aviano, were all very gracious. At the luncheon given in honor of the American pilots wine was served and toasts were made.
The Americans looked to their commander as they were flying that afternoon and the 12/hr. "bottle to throttle" rule was something that they rigorously observed.
The squadron commander raised his wine glass and said, "When in Rome..."
How about banning Opium from Afghanis and Talibans, under penalty of instant death?
Keep it in the rear...and allow the men a day off every once in a while.
It should never be at forward bases...or command bases.
You'd never see such behavior in the US Navy:)
I bet this will be the last time anyone gathers around hijacked Taliban goods.
unless they can have some without their rivals or elders knowing...
WTF? Whatever happened to GO-1? No alcohol.
Colonel, USAFR
It sounds like Bravo Sierra to me. Since when does the AOR commander personally call to see what happened?
Colonel, USAFR
If true, I can't imagine much of anything that would set off a General more quickly. I'd imagine there are a bunch of subordinates with really sore ashes.
If true.
That squadron commander should have had a full scale ass chewing by the Group commander, and maybe the Wing commander as well, and a transfer to some position where he could not endanger our pilots that way.
That's not to say that he and anyone not scheduled to fly within 12 hours couldn't have a glass of wine.
McChrystal Ping.
I have no problem with the bombing of the tankers, folks hang around the Taliban at their own risk. But having a chunk of your staff drunk or hung over when you need them is a no-no, even for Germans.
When he's got some Czar, or even the Pretender in Chief, on the other line?
Nato began an investigation later that morning but military sources said that General McChrystal was furious because he “couldn’t get hold of the people he needed to get hold of and he blamed it on all-night partying”.
Rear-Admiral Gregory Smith, the top US spokesman in Afghanistan, accused German troops of waiting too long after the blasts to investigate the scene. When General McChrystal flew north, the local German commander, Colonel Georg Klein, told him that it was too dangerous to visit the blast site, four miles outside their camp, because they might get shot at.
snip
“General McChrystal is extremely focused on the mission and he feels that the folk who are here at the headquarters level need to be at the top of their game in terms of supporting the folks out in the field,” an Isaf spokesman said. “The Kunduz incident provided an opportunity for him to articulate his concerns in this regard, but it was not the cause of the order nor is there any indication at this point that alcohol consumption was somehow a factor in the incident.”
He added that the decision was driven partly by respect for Muslim culture.
****************************************************************************
You don’t want to know what I think about McChrystal and his “respect” for muslim culture. So far, his “respect” has only gotten more Americans killed.
“Is the general
forced to use foreign soldiers
for his private staff?”
It is a multi-national command, and therefore will have troops from the other countries on the command staff.
Just like SACEUR has officers from all over NATO on his command staff.
Thanks for the ping. This man gets on my last nerve.
Heroin is free though! Don’t pee on the poppies /s
“When he’s got some Czar, or even the Pretender in Chief, on the other line?”
Would seem to be the perfect time for the “Fiddler On The Roof” prayer: “May God bless and keep the Tsar - far away from us!”
Colonel, USAFR
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.