Posted on 05/13/2009 9:20:59 AM PDT by SonOfDarkSkies
Every British officer I talk with asks what in the world happened with General McKiernan, and why was his relief performed so publicly. I do not know. And I do not personally know General McKiernan. I do know that these ears have never heard someone speak a foul word about him, and I talk with lots of interesting people. If he, McKiernan, was a bad general I would have heard about it.
However, General McKiernan did make some statements about additional troops to Afghanistan, and when he made those statements I remember thinking, “He’s going to get fired.” And so those statements were the first thing that came to my mind. McKiernan has been saying we need more troops than are already on the way.
...
But another clue is something that Secretary Gates said to me privately. Actually, LTG David Rodriguez was there, and Rodriguez is tapped to take the number two spot in Afghanistan. Secretary Gates said that his number one concern for Afghanistan is that we will lose the support of the Afghan people. The recent loss of a great number of Afghans was undoubtedly upsetting for Secretary Gates and many others. If we lose widespread support from the Afghan people, the war will be lost.
(Excerpt) Read more at michaelyon-online.com ...
Gates wants to be loved instead of feared.
All is lost.
These people think nothing of killing each other over a piece of dung.
Is it just me, or is the timing of this sacking (with the expressions of regret from Obama and Clinton just last week about civilian casualties) just too much of a coincidence. Methinks the next general will be expected to do wonders with his hands tied behind his back.
Remember the Left’s exhaultations of Gen Shinseki for suggesting more troops would be needed in Iraq?
I thought General McKiernan....... was tight with GEN Paetreus!!
Wasn’t LTGEN rodriquez with the 80th Airborne... and that is when the war started going bad in AFGHANISTAN??
Afghanistan is starting to look, smell and taste like Vietnam. osamaobama like Johnson is heading down the path to defeat. I hope that the Taliban and OBL have not read “The Art of War”.
I agree with everything he said. This was probably a good move, but they could have just announced that Mc Kiernan had requested retirement for personal and family reasons.
I agree! The Pentagon handled it poorly.
There's a lot of Merit to what Mike Yon wrote. However he is missing a very key piece to this whole situation:
McKiernan grew up as a tanker and as such, thinks as a tanker does - which is mostly Kinetic actions.
McCrystal, On the other hand, grew up as a Ranger/SF guy. COMPLETELY different mindset on how to conduct operations and targeting.
McKiernan did a superb job in Iraq back in 2002/2003 when significant force-on-force activities took place, and he did so with a hand tied behind his back (recall 4th ID and the Turkey debacle). This was conventional war.
He's now (or rather used to be) in Afghanistan - which is a completely different fight - mostly small unit action stuff and very Unconventional warfare. Not his kind of warfare.
With McCrystal in charge now, and oh by the way, he's be in Afghanistan before, it's his kind of fight. He knows the ground, the tactics and the threat. This is his kind of fight.
Consider this: you may well have a really good hammer, but you would not use a hammer to conduct surgery - you would use a scalpel.
Additionally, Gen. McChrystal is the best move possible for Stan at its current state. However, people seem to not understand McChrystal has operated / led in Stan prior, just not at his new level in the CoC. He will allow for more aggressiveness down the CoC now that he is further up. Big plus.
Thanks for the perspective.
Looks like we have a similar perspective. see my post #9.
:-)
Michael Yon disagrees with you about Gates. McKiernan's firing was ... perhaps ... ham-handed. Or it might be just the ticket to usher in a needed change in tactics.
Yon's opinion of the new guys is very positive.
The theme here is the way McKiernan was treated for no apparent reason. He could have gotten something like a good award, ceremony, and another equivalent job, if not, a desk to hold down, even if early, this would be better than having to wear bus tire track marks for the rest of your life.
Yes, he did get thrown under the bus. He is certainly not deserving of that kind of treatment. He provided super leadership (from personal knowledge) in the buildup to and the invasion of Iraq.
I disagree that there is "no apparent reason." I think the method of his dismissal was intentional, and that implies (to me) that it was intended to send a message, most likely to the Afghans.
The undercurrent here is that the Afghans are complaining about civilian casualties. As Yon points out, "accidental mass carnage from our side is turning more and more people against us." That's what guerillas want -- it's how they win wars.
Whether those numbers are inflated or not is beside the point; the important thing is how those things are perceived by the Afghans.
What I expect we'll see McChrystal and Rodriguez using this public firing as a springboard to some sort of quick alteration in tactics -- something to show that we take these civilian casualties seriously.
Similar to Iraq, it will probably involve moving American troops into closer contact with Afghan locals, and forcing the Taliban either to leave, or to commit atrocities that have large civilian body counts.
You are right. When was the last time a 4 star was fired this publicly? Shinseki was scheduled to retire anyway. I can’t remember anything like this since Carter fired (I think his name was) Singlaub.
Singlaub was a three star.
Sweep it under the rug? Nope. CO’s are relieved because of loss of confidence all the time.
Everything I’ve heard is that McKiernan, tanker background aside, already WAS using small unit / dispersed / non-kinetic tactics. Shoot, the Army was strongly moving in that direction before I was there in 2007.
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