[cross posted at NPR Check]
On Monday's ME, Tom Bowman and Renee Montagne assess the Obama War switch of commanders in Afghanistan from General McKiernan to General McChrystal and - boy - is Bowman juiced by McChrystal's Green Beret credentials.
"Well he's known, of course, for being a Green Beret - those are highly skilled soldiers that are adept at working with local forces and governments going after insurgents. He spent a lot of time in Afghanistan and Iraq as head of what's called the Joint Special Operations Command - that's a secretive and elite counterterrorism force. They were helpful in getting Saddam Hussein and Abu Musab al-Zarqawi....but he also has somewhat of a blemish on his record, too. He was involved in the case involving army ranger, Pat Tilman..."
Yes, indeed those Green Berets (and other US special forces) do have a history of being "adept at working with local forces and governments"! Green Berets involved in torture - what does that have to do with McChrystal and Afghanistan? Actually, quite a lot as Andrew Sullivan has noticed. As the Kaplan "Obama War" link above notes McChrystal's special force command included providing personnel to the US torture operations at Camp Nama in Iraq.
Bowman's not done putting the shine on the state terror that special operations are so special at. He tells us that
"McKiernan too conventional not really adept at this counterinsurgency warfare...he really wasn't focused on, they said, on protecting the population, which is the key thing in insurgencies like this."
Whew, I bet all those Afghans are so relieved that McChrystal will be helping to protect them, especially now that he will be "getting the added troops and civilian experts that they need to help rebuild the country..." Is that special, or what?
- Mytwords's blog
- Login or register to post comments
Front page
Comments
Refresh my memory on Pat Tilman?
And hey! Those drones are great at protecting the population!
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Here's brief article on Tlllman's parents' concern about this
officer. Even an AOL quiz! Highly invalid, but major skepticism that Pentagon handled the Pat Tillman investigation with any credibility.
Congressional aides know of no oppposition to McChrystal. Why would they? The Memory Hole and Fog have taken so much out of our news coverage that they can just forget, along with much of the less informed public. I mean, one would think the armed forces committee people would be very aware of McChrystal's history.
But, you give presidents the generals they want, not necessarily the generals they need.
npr
The site NPR Check is a useful site to look at whenever you hear something on NPR which does not seem to accord with reality. Unfortunately, that happens quite often.
Indeed!
That is, in fact, the poster's site. I asked them to cross-post here, after Planet Money's egregious interview with Elizabeth Warren, and they accepted, for which I am grateful.
"First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win." -- Mahatma Gandhi