Afghanistan News & Discussion

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 17 Jun 2010 07:13

Military and Pentagon Leaders Urge Patience for Afghan Mission

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/world/17military.html

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 17 Jun 2010 07:33

Afghanistan Through Teenagers' Eyes

What happens when you give cameras to a group of Kabul teens? You see Afghanistan not as a place of war and violence, but as a country where children still play and life carries on.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2 ... agers_eyes

Dipanker · Post by **Dipanker** » 17 Jun 2010 09:49

As Violence Increases, Businesswoman Rangina Hamidi Leaves Kandahar For U.S.

According to Hamidi, everyday life in Kandahar Province — for women especially — has changed dramatically since she arrived there.

"Seven years ago, when I first went to Afghanistan, without a burqa, as a young woman, I'd go out and about, and did everything that I wanted to," she said. "Seven years later, I've pretty much locked myself in house, because I'm so afraid to leave. When I do, I do wear the burqa to protect myself."

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 18 Jun 2010 04:30

Afghan mines won't guarantee victory ---- Fareed Zakaria

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 18 Jun 2010 06:43

LeT expands attacks in Afghanistan: NYT

Indo-Asian News Service

Pakistani-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, has expanded its operations in Afghanistan, inflicting casualties on Afghans and Indians alike and setting up training camps in that country, according to the New York Times.

The group identified with attacks on Indian targets "is believed to have planned or executed three major attacks against Indian government employees and private workers in Afghanistan in recent months," the influential US daily said in a report from Kabul citing Afghan and international intelligence officers and diplomats.

LeT continues to track Indian development workers and others for possible attack, the Times quoted them as saying.

Lashkar's "inroads in Afghanistan provide a fresh indication of its growing ambitions to confront India even beyond the disputed territory of Kashmir, for which Pakistan's military and intelligence services created the group as a proxy force decades ago," the Times said

"Officially, Pakistan says it no longer supports or finances the group. But Lashkar's expanded activities in Afghanistan, particularly against Indian targets, prompt suspicions that it has become one of Pakistan's proxies to counteract India's influence in the country," it said.

The Times cited some intelligence officials as suggesting it is also possible that LeT factions have broken from their onetime handlers and are working more independently, though Indian and Afghan authorities say the focus on Indian targets is being interpreted as a direct challenge from Pakistan.

"Our concern is that there are still players involved that are trying to use Afghanistan's ground as a place for a proxy war," Shaida Abdali, Afghanistan's deputy national security adviser was quoted as saying. "It is being carried out by certain state actors to fight their opponents."

There were a few Lashkar cells in Afghanistan three or four years ago, but they were not focused on Indian targets and, until recently, their presence seemed to be diminishing, the Times said. But "They are active now in six or eight provinces" it said citing an unnamed senior NATO intelligence official.

"They are currently most interested in Indian targets here, but they can readily trade attacks on international targets for money or influence or an alliance with other groups," he said.

In that lawless expanse on the Afghan border, Lashkar could help other militant groups plan complex attacks against Afghan and international targets, possibly in exchange for reconnaissance on Indian targets from its militant allies who have operatives in Afghanistan, the Times said citing security officials.

I am surprised there are no more kidnap operations. In the last attack, weren't 4 TSP workers killed as a retaliation?

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 18 Jun 2010 07:22

World’s Mining Companies Covet Afghan Riches

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/world ... mines.html

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 18 Jun 2010 07:26

Afghanistan Moves Quickly to Tap Newfound Mineral Reserves

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/world ... fghan.html

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 19 Jun 2010 12:57

interesting documentary on the under-reported fighting in afghanistan

----------
Fighting Season - Afghanistan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALhU_475Oz0

Ameet · Post by **Ameet** » 19 Jun 2010 23:10

Indian mining cos hit a roadblock, can't take out Afghanistan ores

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 065861.cms

Afghanistan's geological wealth is not new. But Indian companies extracting minerals face a unique problem: taking the stuff out of the country. Pakistan refuses to let Indian goods travel through its territory. The other way out is Iran, but Indian multinational companies are wary of getting in there and incurring the wrath of the US.

Only a few companies like L N Mittal's Arcelor or Anil Agarwal's Vedanta, with their Central Asian interests, have a fighting chance of being able to utilize this wealth. They will have a chance when the Afghan government once again opens up the Hajigak iron ore mines for bids next week. While India enjoys enormous goodwill in Afghanistan, which has increased substantially in the past decade as India has invested heavily in Afghanistan's civilian sectors, translating this into economic equity is more difficult for India than, say, China, which is making a huge push into tapping Afghan mineral resources, as part of its global push.

The Karzai government clearly wants to be more even-handed. The Afghan government postponed bidding on these mines earlier this year, after many international companies, including Indian, pulled out, leaving only one Chinese company in the fray. China could end up as the biggest beneficiary of Afghanistan's mineral finds.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 19 Jun 2010 23:49

Sure victory in Afganisthan would require USA putting TSPA on notcie, stop the hanky panky, or else we systematically reduce you to a parking lot reminiscent of bombing Sebia or Iraq. Recall, as much as I was aghast at US bludgeoning Serbia, the reality was that Serbs were putting up a brave front, cocking a snook at USA, until USA started attacking from the air, blowing away targets that hurt the RAPE equivanet of Serbs; it was then that Serb nationalism was dent a blow and the late Milosevic was undermined. Likewise, USA need not go on all out offensive against TSP, just a calibrated attack from the air undermining TSPA in the eyes of their own people, and only when the TSP nationalism that TSPA represents to the average Abduls is undermined, will notions of strategic depth in Afganisthan, and other grandiose imperialist ambitions of TSP RAPE will be dealt a death blow. I am sure USA strategists know this, but the only thing, the only things that is preventing this is the strategic role TSPA plays in upholding the edifice of the US empire. USA simply cannot afford to let SDREs rule the roost in that region. Simply unacceptable.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 20 Jun 2010 00:39

US, Afghan forces kill 38 Haqqani Network fighters in Khost

A Haqqani Network leader known as Zakim Shah serves as the shadow governor of Khost province. Khost, Paktika, and Paktia provinces are the main strongholds of the Haqqani Network in eastern Afghanistan. The Haqqani Network also has a presence in the provinces of Logar, Wardak, Nangarhar, Ghazni, Zabul, and Kabul.

The Haqqani forces in Paktika province are commanded by Mullah Sangeen Zadran, a senior lieutenant to Sirajuddin Haqqani. A US military intelligence official told The Long War Journal that Sangeen also commands forces outside of Paktika and that he has become one of the most dangerous operational commanders in eastern Afghanistan.

Last summer, Sangeen took credit for the kidnapping of a US soldier who apparently stepped away from his post at a combat outpost in Paktika on June 30, 2009. US forces in eastern Afghanistan launched a massive manhunt for the soldier, but failed to find him. The soldier is believed to be held across the border in Pakistan's Taliban-controlled tribal agency of North Waziristan.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 21 Jun 2010 05:24

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articl ... 06032.html
A Trade Strategy for Kabul
( aint these so called experts either stealing ideas from here or too slow to think)

The Silk Road study tries to visualize the kind of Afghanistan that might exist after U.S. troops begin coming home starting in July 2011. Instead of being a lawless frontier, this post-conflict Afghanistan would be a transit route for Eurasia, providing trade corridors north and south, east and west.To make this transport-led strategy work, Afghanistan would need to build more roads, railways and pipelines. A hypothetical railway map shows routes that connect Iran with India, Russia with Pakistan, China with the Arabian Sea. It knits together the rising powers of this region and makes Afghanistan a hub, rather than a barrier.I first heard discussion of this modern Silk Road idea from Ashraf Ghani, a former Afghan finance minister. He made a powerful analogy to America's own development: What secured our lawless Wild West frontier was the transcontinental railroad in 1869. With trade and economic growth came stability.Asian nations understand the benefits they could gain from transit links across Afghanistan. Take the ring road that links Afghanistan's biggest cities; the U.S. has pumped $1.8 billion into this and other road projects since 2002, but neighboring Iran has also put up a hefty $220 million. China has built roads connecting its western Xinjiang province with Afghanistan, by way of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and the Chinese are now building a $50 million roadway in Wardak province.There was a buzz last week because of a U.S. estimate that Afghanistan could possess $1 trillion in mineral wealth. That's a pipe dream for now, but what's real is a Chinese project to invest $3 billion in the Aynak copper mine, south of Kabul. To transport the copper, China has pledged to build a new railway route north, through Tajikistan, and the Chinese want to extend this rail link to the Pakistani port of Gwadar on the Arabian Sea.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 21 Jun 2010 06:52

Indian mining cos hit a roadblock, can't take out Afghanistan ores

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 065861.cms

Isn't it tragic that our brain dead politicians didn't understand the importance of maintain access to Afg. and Central Asia through retaining access to PoK when it was relatively easy and still possibility?

Back to the problem of roadblock. Can we make use of concepts behind financial "swaps" and apply them to extraction of iron ore? In financial swaps, one stream of cash-flows are exchanged for other. Same thing can be applied to Iron Ore. For example, if European country needs iron ore from Australia, we can instead deliver them from Afg. and we take their shipment from Australia. I'm kind of simplifying it, but you all get the point...

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 21 Jun 2010 09:03

POK is key to many things in Indian Interests. Yes that strategy is prone with challenges but that is what makes it more valuable. All those challenges will become opportunities when India is victorious.

- India has legal claims on POK+NA
- It will take a sustained military campaign of at least 30 days followed by ~200-250,000 permanent forces
- Cost estimate is ~$30-50B (10-15% our forex reserves); ~5-10000 lives
- Main political challengers US, UK and PRC. There is a high possibility of making friends out of US and PRC if strategized properly.

Benefits
- Acts as catalyst for disintegration of TSP
- Wins powerful friends such as PRC, USA and Russia
- Permanently destroys the cross-border terror infrastructure
- Opens up trade/energy routes to CAR region

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 21 Jun 2010 10:53

abhishek_sharma wrote:World’s Mining Companies Covet Afghan Riches
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/world ... mines.html

I just completed reading a book "Plight of Honesty" by a retired IAS officer, Mr. G.Sundaram. He mentions India entering into an agreement with the Najibullah government for extraction of copper from the huge deposits there. Of course, soon enough the regime changed and all that.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 21 Jun 2010 11:12

SSridhar wrote:
abhishek_sharma wrote:World’s Mining Companies Covet Afghan Riches
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/world ... mines.html
I just completed reading a book "Plight of Honesty" by a retired IAS officer, Mr. G.Sundaram. He mentions India entering into an agreement with the Najibullah government for extraction of copper from the huge deposits there. Of course, soon enough the regime changed and all that.

Mr Sundaram lives in Chennai. Perhaps you can talk to him on various points in his book

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 22 Jun 2010 03:03

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/2 ... 18545.html
Japan Has 'Priority' On Rights To Mine Afghanistan Mineral Deposits, Says Hamid Karzai

During an appearance at the Japan Institute of International Affairs, Karzai focused on his country's mineral deposits. He pointed to Japan's status as Afghanistan's second-biggest donor, and reasoned that Japan should enjoy special access to Afghan resources with estimated values that range from $1-3 trillion dollars."Morally, Afghanistan should give access as a priority to those countries that have helped Afghanistan massively in the past few years," Karzai told the institute."What . . . we have to reciprocate with is this opportunity of mineral resources, that we must return at the goodwill of the Japanese people by giving Japan priority to come and explore and extract," Karzai said.Looking to the future, Karzai echoed an internal Pentagon memo and said that the mining will define Afghanistan, "Whereas Saudi Arabia is the oil capital of the world, Afghanistan will be the lithium capital of the world.... And Japan is welcome to participate in the lithium exploration in Afghanistan."

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 22 Jun 2010 05:55

Holbrooke under fire

Taliban gunmen tried to shoot down Holbrooke's V22 Osprey as it approached for a landing, triggering a gunbattle with the insurgents that lasted for about 10 minutes. And a trio of suicide bombers detonated themselves during an attack on the U.S. base as Holbrooke was leaving.

Marja was taken from the Taliban during a February offensive spearheaded by U.S. Marines, and is seen as an important test for the Obama administration's strategy. The ambassador rejected suggestions that the stubbornness of the Taliban resistance in Marja raises doubts about the current strategy. "I don't think you can draw a national conclusion from what happens in Marja as simply as that. It's a complicated situation," Holbrooke said.

Across the country it was a rough day for coalition forces. At least six NATO troops were killed and British casualties reached a milestone with the death the 300th British soldier.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 22 Jun 2010 08:15

Top general in Afghan war: US envoy betrayed me

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100622/ap_ ... al_enemies

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 22 Jun 2010 08:21

Top US Afghan commander mocks Biden: report

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... g89_btIscw

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 22 Jun 2010 08:33

What the Heck Was McChrystal Thinking?

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc ... ing/58480/

Eikenberry's beef with McChrystal goes back to the time when McChrystal was the Pope. The Pope is the head of the Joint Special Operations Command. The nickname goes back to an off-hand remark that Janet Reno made after failing to obtain information from JSOC after the raid at Waco. (JSOC operators were on the ground but did not assist in the raid itself.) She called JSOC the Vatican. And the head of the Vatican is ... the Pope.

At some point, I think in 2005, one of McChrystal's task-forces-that-didn't-really-exist did something in Afghanistan that angered Eikenberriy, who was in command of the region at the time. The two men exchanged words and built mutual mistrust. They have not worked well together ever since.

...

But there were tensions. Even though McChrystal voted for Obama and told him so during their first meeting, he sensed that a number of senior White House aides didn't really believe that the former commander of the military's special missions unit during the Bush-Cheney years was suddenly on their side. National Security Adviser James Jones, who is a bit of cipher to McChrystal's team, may or may not have been one of these aides. No one in the West Wing bought all that liberal internet chatter about JSOC's alleged crimes -- but no one really didn't buy it, either.

Within hours after today's Rolling Stone story broke, McChrystal was called by the White House, the Secretary of Defense, and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They were not happy.

abhishek_sharma · Post by **abhishek_sharma** » 22 Jun 2010 14:01

U.S. Said to Fund Afghan Warlords to Protect Convoys

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/world ... ctors.html

Fidel Guevara · Post by **Fidel Guevara** » 22 Jun 2010 18:50

McChrystal in BIG trouble!

McChrystal apologized Tuesday for the profile, in which the general and his staff appear to mock top civilian officials, including the vice president.

McChrystal and his staff had imagined ways of dismissing Vice President Joe Biden with a one-liner as they prepared for a question-and-answer session in Paris in April. The general had grown tired of questions about Biden since earlier dismissing a counterterrorism strategy the vice president had offered. "'Are you asking about Vice President Biden?' McChrystal says with a laugh. 'Who's that?'"

Sources familiar with the meeting said McChrystal thought Obama looked "uncomfortable and intimidated" by the room full of top military officials , according to the article.

"Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was. Here's the guy who's going to run his f---ing war, but he didn't seem very engaged. The Boss (McChrystal) was disappointed."

"At one point on his trip to Paris, McChrystal checks his BlackBerry, according to the article. 'Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke,' he groans. 'I don't even want to open it.' He clicks on the message and reads the salutation out loud, then stuffs the BlackBerry back in his pocket, not bothering to conceal his annoyance."

"'Make sure you don't get any of that on your leg,' an aide jokes, referring to the e-mail."

"I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team, and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome," McChrystal said in the closing to his apology.

After he roundly criticizes his boss and mocks the entire leadership team, he still thinks he can keep his job?

Suppiah · Post by **Suppiah** » 22 Jun 2010 19:18

It is the boss that should be ashamed. During elections they mocked Petraeus as 'Betray-us' with full page ads...these liberal wimps are now surrendering to Pakbarian animals and jehadi pigs like Iran trying to camoflague their abject b..t hole licking as enlightened moderation. They shower scorn and abuse at Republicans and anyone that criticises them and yet bend over backwards to anyone that is a genuine threat including Taller than mountain, terrorists of Guantanamo you name it...

No wonder everyone and anyone, including the likes of Erdogan thinks Unkil is past his prime and they can now come out in open instead of scurrying under rocks...how do you expect a general serving in the trenches to have any respect for these jokers?

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 22 Jun 2010 19:25

As far as Indian interests in Afghanistan are concerned, this latest turmoil over McChrystal does not seem to have any implication one way or another. Outlook has been grim and remains grim.

Fidel Guevara · Post by **Fidel Guevara** » 22 Jun 2010 20:16

Pranav wrote:As far as Indian interests in Afghanistan are concerned, this latest turmoil over McChrystal does not seem to have any implication one way or another. Outlook has been grim and remains grim.

Don't fully agree...after all, Gen McC was the key advocate for the surge and all for boots on the ground. Biden and co advocated retreating to the major cities/Green Zones and managing the rest of the countryside with drones.

Need to remember that India is working on roads and bridges and other civil infrastructure all over Afghanistan. If the next general is a WH chamcha, and he recommends that the Biden "turtle" strategy is the right approach, we will see NATO troops pullout of all the mofussil areas. At that point, most of the Indian projects in far-flung areas will have to stop.

Unless of course India sends a few brigades over there, supplied through Russia/Central Asian Republics...

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 22 Jun 2010 20:49

The withdrawal timeline will have to be brought forward. If they are forced to overwinter, the US troops are in for trouble. The situation may deteriorate very rapidly and surprisingly. Problem is that like Vietnam, the US will be forced to be sitting ducks until the very last moment when all its local allies are ruined and then take wings.

brihaspati · Post by **brihaspati** » 22 Jun 2010 21:05

Even if MC's strategy was bout keeping "boots on the field", the underlying overall strategy was still to clear "urban" settlements of visible Taleb presence, present this as sufficient "clearance" to home media and political opinion - claim that Talebs have been cleared and visible gov was a friendly/favourable modified hotch-potch of warlord+druglord+jihadlords+triballords - who were in control.

As I pointed out a long time ago - this would have only worked when the Afghan economy only depended on the trade routes controlled by the cities. The insurgents no longer need to loot the trade routes or cities only to maitain their armed strength - that entire country is now an open market for illegal trafficking - of women, drugs and guns. Look at how many markets it can tap into - the Uzebeks, Kyrgyzs, Turkmenis, Kurds, Chechens,....not to mention China, Iran, and Paki occupied western India.

The real strength of the insurgents lie in the general Islamization of the entire CAR, breakdown of Soviet control over these "badlands" and NATO-EU prevention of regrowth of Russian influence as much as possible, China's entry as a major supplier of arms and ammunitions, increased production of drugs perhaps under western protection to provide non-audited off-shore funds for covert ops against deemed "enemies" of the west, Gulf oil money from both facets of Islamic imperialism - KSA and Iran, and the delusional facet of Islamic imperialism - the occupation government at Islamabad.

It is too much for a NATO to handle. Not with the limitations imposed by the excruciating need to protect the image and basic institutions of the ideology that spawns Jihad. They will have to withdraw, but now with the blundering declarations of intent by their commanders and politicians - they will be forced to face a Saigon-evacuation type situation - since they will not be able to retreat easily.

CRamS · Post by **CRamS** » 22 Jun 2010 21:38

What we are witnessing is a melt-down of the messianic zeal to go on crusade to Afganisthan post 9/11. Recall, at that time, joe-six-packs, football players, and even soccer moms were vying with each other to go. Now finding out that there exists no so called Al Queda that is so omnipotent that take on the mighty US armada, the fun is gone. Of course, important issues remain, such as the real institution of Jihad in TSP, but that is a strategic secret, only under the purview of thinks tanks, strategists, and diplomats.

Afganisthan is now replaced by the current round-the-clock fad (see India-US thread): BP oil spill. If someone wants to get thieir 15 mins of fame, they are better off talking about BP oil spill, than they are talking about Afganisthan.

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 22 Jun 2010 22:37

I am glad to see that my opinion of Shri BHO is catching on, and in circles that actually matter in US of A.

kudos to me.

Carl_T · Post by **Carl_T** » 22 Jun 2010 22:43

What opinion is that?

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 22 Jun 2010 23:17

CRamS wrote:What we are witnessing is a melt-down of the messianic zeal to go on crusade to Afganisthan post 9/11. Recall, at that time, joe-six-packs, football players, and even soccer moms were vying with each other to go. Now finding out that there exists no so called Al Queda that is so omnipotent that take on the might

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/american- ... d=10920960

They have created a christian crusader movement out of the global media coverage

American Hunting Osama Bin Laden Was Intent on Avenging 9/11
Family Said They Fear for Gary Brooks Faulkner's Life Due to Kidney Disease

96 comments By LEE FERRAN and MATTHEW COLE
June 15, 2010
The American arrested in Pakistan who was on a solo mission to hunt down Osama bin Laden told police he was intent on avenging the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks.

Gary Faulkner was arrested in Pakistan, armed with a sword and pistol.
Authorities said Gary Brooks Faulkner, a construction worker who lived in Greeley, Colo., was arrested attempting to cross into Afghanistan in the mountainous region of northern Pakistan. He was armed with a pistol, sword, night vision goggles, a map and was reportedly carrying Christian literature.

Police arrested Faulkner, 50, in a hotel near the Afghanistan border. Police said that when he was arrested, Faulkner claimed he was going to take revenge for al Qaeda's terror attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center.

http://www.getreligion.org/?p=36451

Hunting Osama for the Lord?
Posted by Mollie

Did you read about the American who was caught in Pakistan attempting to hunt down Osama bin Laden? As soon as I heard the man was from my home state of Colorado, I became more interested in the details. Dr. Scott Faulkner spoke in defense of his brother, the 52-year-old Gary Brooks Faulkner, to Denver NBC affiliate 9News:

“My brother is not crazy,” Scott Faulkner said. “He is highly intelligent and loves his country and has not forgotten what Osama has done to this country.” …

Hmm, wonder what that book could be. The Associated Press report on the guy calls it a “Bible.” Which makes the description above seem pretty funny.

Anyway, the AP story is no gem itself, however. Here’s how the religion angle is handled:

Catching bin Laden was 50-year-old Faulkner’s passion, his brother Scott Faulkner said. A devout Christian with a prison record, Faulkner has been to Pakistan at least six times, learned some of the local language, and even grew a long beard to blend in, relatives and acquaintances said.

Now, I by no means think that a prison record is incompatible with being a devout Christian, but this is really poor phrasing. What, exactly, makes him devout? His flouting of American law? There’s clearly a religion angle here that needs to be explored, but this only raises more questions.

Telling us that this man is a generic “devout Christian” replaces that exploration with a fairly meaningless label. What are his specific religious beliefs? How does he demonstrate devotion to those beliefs? Why is the phrase “devout Christian” being used here? Show us his devotion to Christianity rather than tell us without any evidence.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 22 Jun 2010 23:42

Folks, the main lesson for Indics is going above their head.Like Hanuman they keep forgetting. Onllee weakness is that of political in nature otherwise there sleep the fiery spirit surpassing Sahastar of Afghanistan and that too in added combination with intellect equal or better than any adversary. All it require is coordination and united front with removal of PSers and their local patrons.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 23 Jun 2010 00:09

McChrystal and Article 88 of the UCMJ, Contempt toward Officials
By: Hugh

The question had been raised whether General Stanley McChrystal committed insubordination in his interview with Rolling Stone. Technically, he did not. Insubordination is an offense under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) which occurs within and between enlisted and non-commissioned ranks. (Article 91). When a commissioned officer is involved, it is called "disrespect toward a superior commissioned officer." (Article 89). What McChrystal did is covered under Article 88 and is called "contempt toward officials
Text.
“Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct

http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/56176/

A_Gupta · Post by **A_Gupta** » 23 Jun 2010 00:09

http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semp ... -2010.html
Retd. Col Lang:

I am surprised that some of you don't understand what is at stake in McChrystal's offense. It is really quite simple. The principle has always been in this country that the federal military is an instrument of state policy. Our tradition is designed to prevent the emergence of "Caesarism" as a method of picking leaders or determining basic national policy. To maintain that principle Macarthur was fired on the advice of George Marshall. What McChrystal has done is to challenge President Obama. Everyone in the armed forces knows that. The notion has emerged in the COIN community that Obama is weak and can be bullied into removing the time restriction that he has placed on the Afghanistan COIN campaign plan that he adopted at their urging last year. Macarthur implicitly threatened both Roosevelt and Truman with the possibility that he would mobilize Republican politicos against them. The COIN crowd think that the same method can be used against this president. They have been willing to bet that he is no Truman and that Gates and Clinton do not have Marshall's strength. The effrontery of the deed in feeding this reporter all this material without placing it off the record is clearly a challenge to civilian control of policy.

McChrystal must be fired. Then he should be put on the retired list in his permanent grade with no end of career award. Then some thought should be given to the clear violation here of Article 88 of UCMJ.

Active duty military people are free to express their opinions to their superiors. They are not and should not be free to use the press against the civilian government.

Admiral Byng comes to mind. pl

Sanku · Post by **Sanku** » 23 Jun 2010 00:22

Ah but the above forgets that McChrystal did not threaten and or cajole BHO.

He merely derided him

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 23 Jun 2010 01:20

There was a decorated combat veteran of Major General rank who derided Jimmy Carter and was dismissed from service in late 70s.

Looks like Afghanistan is consuming a lot more than mere money and resources.

History shows McChrystal will lose his job

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 23 Jun 2010 01:40

ramana wrote:There was a decorated combat veteran of Major General rank who derided Jimmy Carter and was dismissed from service in late 70s.

Looks like Afghanistan is consuming a lot more than mere money and resources.

History shows McChrystal will lose his job

Probably McChrystal knew that it was end for his strategy and a new strategy was being worked out

SwamyG · Post by **SwamyG** » 23 Jun 2010 02:29

Here are two important paragraphs from the Rollings Stone article: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/ne ... how_page=1

From the start, McChrystal was determined to place his personal stamp on Afghanistan, to use it as a laboratory for a controversial military strategy known as counterinsurgency. COIN, as the theory is known, is the new gospel of the Pentagon brass, a doctrine that attempts to square the military's preference for high-tech violence with the demands of fighting protracted wars in failed states. COIN calls for sending huge numbers of ground troops to not only destroy the enemy, but to live among the civilian population and slowly rebuild, or build from scratch, another nation's government – a process that even its staunchest advocates admit requires years, if not decades, to achieve. The theory essentially rebrands the military, expanding its authority (and its funding) to encompass the diplomatic and political sides of warfare: Think the Green Berets as an armed Peace Corps. In 2006, after Gen. David Petraeus beta-tested the theory during his "surge" in Iraq, it quickly gained a hardcore following of think-tankers, journalists, military officers and civilian officials. Nicknamed "COINdinistas" for their cultish zeal, this influential cadre believed the doctrine would be the perfect solution for Afghanistan. All they needed was a general with enough charisma and political savvy to implement it.

As McChrystal leaned on Obama to ramp up the war, he did it with the same fearlessness he used to track down terrorists in Iraq: Figure out how your enemy operates, be faster and more ruthless than everybody else, then take the ****** out. After arriving in Afghanistan last June, the general conducted his own policy review, ordered up by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. The now-infamous report was leaked to the press, and its conclusion was dire: If we didn't send another 40,000 troops – swelling the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan by nearly half – we were in danger of "mission failure." The White House was furious. McChrystal, they felt, was trying to bully Obama, opening him up to charges of being weak on national security unless he did what the general wanted. It was Obama versus the Pentagon, and the Pentagon was determined to kick the president's ass.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 23 Jun 2010 02:46

People connected with Foggy bottom say that the foreign policy(at least the broad ME policy, Iraq and AfPak) is now taken over by the Pentagon completely.