Probes overlook McChrystal's role in costly Afghan battles

[G_j]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/86824.html

Probes overlook McChrystal's role in costly Afghan battles

By Jonathan S. Landay | McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, kept a remote U.S. base in the country manned last year at the local governor's request despite warnings from his field commanders that it should be closed because it was vulnerable and had no tactical or strategic value.

McChrystal's decision to maintain the outpost at Barg-e Matal prompted the top American commanders in eastern Afghanistan to delay plans to close a second remote U.S. outpost, Combat Outpost Keating, where insurgents killed eight U.S. troops in an assault Oct. 3, a McClatchy investigation has found.

Keeping Barg-e-Matal open also deprived a third isolated base of the officer who would have been its acting commander and left its command to lower-ranking officers whose "ineffective actions" led "directly" to the deaths of five American and eight Afghan soldiers in an ambush Sept. 8, according to a high-level military investigation.

In addition, an unidentified witness told the military investigators that the operations center that failed to provide effective artillery and air cover to the U.S. and Afghan force that was ambushed in the Ganjgal Valley was focused instead on Barg-e Matal.

However, the ambush inquiry and a similar high-level Army probe into the Oct. 3 deaths at COP Keating, the worst single American combat loss in 2009, don't mention that McChrystal's decision to keep Barg-e Matal open made the combat outpost and the Ganjgal operation more vulnerable.

Instead, the inquiries hit lower-ranking officers — including two field commanders who'd urged McChrystal for months to close Keating and Barg-e Matal — with administrative penalties.

..more..

[peacebird]

1. McChrystal is a cowardly b@stard if this report is true. He knowingly allowed

lower-ranking officers — including two field commanders who'd urged him for months to close Keating and Barg-e Matal — to be hit with administrative penalties.

WAY TO "LEAD" asswipe.

[G_j]

3. McChrystal's Pat Tillman Connection

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090525/zirin2

McChrystal's Pat Tillman Connection

By Dave Zirin

May 13, 2009

When NFL player-turned-Army Ranger Pat Tillman died at the hands of US troops in a case of "friendly fire," the spin machine at the Pentagon went into overdrive. Rumsfeld and company couldn't have their most high-profile soldier dying in such an inelegant fashion, especially with the release of those pesky photos from Abu Ghraib hitting the airwaves. So an obscene lie was told to Tillman's family, his friends and the American public. The chickenhawks in charge, whose only exposure to war was watching John Wayne movies, claimed that he died charging a hill and was cut down by the radical Islamic enemies of freedom. In the weeks preceding his death, Tillman was beginning to question what exactly he was fighting for, telling friends that he believed the war in Iraq was " illegal." He may not have known what he was fighting for, but it's now clear what he died for: public relations. Today, after five years, six investigations and two Congressional hearings, questions still linger about how Tillman died and why it was covered up.


Now the man who greased the chain of command that orchestrated this great deception is prepared to assume total control of US operations in Afghanistan: Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal. It was McChrystal who approved Tillman's posthumous Silver Star, a medal given explicitly for combat, even though he later testified that he "suspected" friendly fire.

Yet despite this, both Democrats and Republicans are rushing to heap praise on McChrystal, including Sen. John McCain. It was McCain who rushed to speak at Tillman's funeral and then, when the cover-up became known, pledged to help the Tillman family expose the truth. McCain later turned his back on the Tillmans when they raised the volume and demanded answers. As Pat's mother, Mary Tillman, said last year, "He definitely eased out of the situation. He didn't blatantly say he wouldn't help us, it's just that it became clear that he kind of drifted away."

And now the Tillman family, amidst bipartisan praise for Obama's new general, must once again raise the inconvenient truth.
Pat's father, Pat Tillman Sr., told the Associated Press, "I do believe that guy participated in a falsified homicide investigation."

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[LiberalFighter]

2. How many damn bases do we have in Afghanistan?

[G_j]

4. About 400 belong to NATO and American forces

http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2010/02/the-us-and-its-allies-have-700-bases-in-afghanistan/


The U.S. and its Allies Have 700 Bases in Afghanistan

By Noah Shachtman
February 10, 2010 |
1:02 pm |
Categories: Af/Pak


That’s according to Colonel Wayne Shanks, a spokesman for the U.S. military effort there, and dogged researcher Nick Turse. About 400 belong to NATO and American forces; the rest are in the hands of the Afghan National Army.

A few of these bases are huge; Kandahar Air Field could house as many as 35,000 by next year. Most are tiny — a few hesco barriers surrounding a makeshift command post.

The number will almost certainly grow, as more NATO troops execute top commander General Stanley McChrystal’s dictum to live among the local population. But already, it shows just how extensive NATO’s presence is in Afghanistan, and how far the troops are stretched out.

[Fumesucker]

5. As usual, the big wheels go unpunished and the lower ranks take the heat..

Totally unsurprising.

[G_j]

8. ain't that the way

it's a dirty business.

[Metta]

6. kicked. Happy karma, Stan.

Murderer. Liar. Betrayer.

[winstars]

7. Generals love to kill them some soldiers occasionally, ya think

Jeez, it's like every war that I have EVER read about... General's fucking up and guys being killed, then lower ranking officers getting blamed... Some old shit, unreal actually. Stan the Man is just the new face of the old.

THIS IS WHERE WE REALLY, REALLY, REALLY COULD USE MR. HACKWORTH!!!! Him dying all young on us has left a big gap calling out the BS in military affairs. I certainly did not always agree with the Sarge, but he did have a way of just slaying (pun intended) the brass for their sometimes criminal acts...

[G_j]

9. --

[G_j]

10. ==