Who is Stanley McChrystal? What is TF 6-26? Why did Obama pick him for Afghanistan? Horrifying!!!

[Triana]

"But why then did Obama pick him for Afghanistan? In the wake of horrifying news of unintended civilian casualties, in a war where the US is already intensely unpopular, Obama has picked a leader who can be directly linked to the worst images and incidents of prisoner torture and abuse under Bush."

http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/05/mcchrystals-unit-t626.html


"In June 2004, Stephen A. Cambone, a top Pentagon official, ordered his deputy, Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin, to look into allegations of detainee abuse at Camp Nama."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/19/international/middleeast/19abuse.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1897542,00.html

[Triana]

1. a quote re: McChrystal...

..."From my perspective, our rules of land warfare, our respect for human life, and our strategic constraints handcuff us to the point that the war in Afghanistan is unwinnable. But, with LTG McChrystal at the helm now all bets are off."

[HowHasItComeToThis]

11. HEY AMERICA, HOW YOU FEELING ABOUT YOUR MILITARY COUP

[ret5hd]

2. TF 6-26:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_Force_6-26

[Triana]

3. I know what it is. I want other DUers to see this....

..in the face of Obama's reversal re: photos and on military tribunals and he picked this McChrystal character for Afghanistan....this is HORRIFYING. He's essentially adopted bu$hit's policies here. And CHENEY'S.

Cheney LOVED McChrystal apparently. :wtf:

[Mari333]

20. Rumsfield loved him too

this bodes not well.

[Triana]

27. Rummy and Darth Cheney...

....both of them. Ugh.

[madrchsod]

4. afghanistan is obama`s vietnam

it`s his war now and it will fail.

[Triana]

9. notoriously and even more damagingly so if this McChrystal is involved. n/t

[ima_sinnic]

5. who is the primary challenger in 2012? I will be donating a LOT of money & time

to get rid of this trojan horse.

[Peregrine Took]

6. Amen. I can't even stand to listen to him or see him anymore.

I used to run to the TV whenever he was on now - I turn the station.

[lamp_shade]

8. Really?

[lamp_shade]

7. Maybe Kucinich?

[noamnety]

10. K&R

I would have posted my thread (http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8412623&mesg_id=8412623) as a response to this if I'd seen your OP. This needs more attention - and Sullivan has a good point - the timing of this along with the about-face on releasing the torture photos is suspect, at best.

[Triana]

28. It's downright chilling noamnety!

I'm - I dunno - stunned.

[pleah]

12. K&R Afghanistan is all about the pipeline and poppies. n/t

[Moondog]

21. Yep.

[lunatica]

13. I'm beginning to have some suspicions here

Obama must know something now as President that he didn't know before regarding this war in Afghanistan and it's something we don't have a chance of finding out. Probably something that would be very shocking to us. It just seems like he's done a total reversal on Afghanistan in a way that seems really out of character from what his public person has been for the last few years.

I think it's something bad. Really bad, like nuclear weapon bad. Could it be that there's one that's gone missing in the area? What would cause him to react to Afghanistan in this way? Why send someone over there who's linked to torture?

This reversal he's done was after he became President. Why shut down operations in Iraq, or pretend to and turn around and send more troops to Afghanistan. He knows their history of breaking Empires, so why?

[Triana]

22. There are a couple of theories floating around...

...one is that the national security community is 'wagging' him on the issue of the photos (link below). Another is that McChrystal himself has influenced Obama somehow. Or, maybe both.

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/dean/20090515.html

Certainly it seems something has "reined him in" on the whole torture issue. Photos. Afghanistan+choice of MonsterChrystal.

He did say when running for President - before he won the election, that he would draw down troops in Iraq and send more troops to Afghanistan. That part is no surprise.

His reversal on the photos, the tribunals, and his choice of this McChrystal monster for Afghanistan is most definitely puzzling.

Sullivan questions this appointment succinctly:

"What are the odds that McChrystal will be asked about his knowledge of Camp Nama in his confirmation hearings? And why would Barack Obama appoint someone whose line of command made him directly responsible for a place that made Abu Ghraib look like the Brookings Institution?"

[Mari333]

23. It was Robert Gates who chose McChrystal

what...does Obama think for himself >?? is he leaving these choices up to Bush's boys? this occupation is a clusterfck.
talk about putting the troops in harms way!!

[Triana]

30. Isn't Obama Robert Gates' boss?

Doesn't he have any say about this? Yes I agree - talk about putting troops in harm's way!!

Putting this schmuck in command over Afghanistan is the epitome of it. Surely there will be more torture - I guess the mantra is just do it and don't show the pictures?

:wtf:

This 180 of the Obama Admin on the issue is giving everyone whiplash. And the choice of McChrystal - no matter WHO in the administration made it - is just insult to injury.

SURELY Obama knows of this McChrystal schmuck and knows his background?

[roody]

35. Maybe "they" threatened to kill his family.

[Triana]

38. I'd put nothing past them.

Nothing.

[Mari333]

14. boy, when it rains it fcking POURS

I give up.

[Triana]

16. I am seriously disappointed too, Mari333. This past two weeks...

....Obama has done some serious damage to my ability to support him. I'm losing confidence in him. I'm not going to make any big proclamations except to say I'm v.disappointed in some of his bigger decisions the past two weeks: healthcare, torture photos, tribunals, his adoption of bu$h policies in regards to these and FOIA, etc.

I don't know what else to say just now.

[Mari333]

19. he is losing his base, fast

even some of my more moderate friends are appalled. they email me with anger and disappointment.
I write everything I hear from them to the White House every day. I can only do that now.
and how many american citizens even keep an eye on this stuff? I know that many on the left will not tolerate it.
Even Clinton wasnt this quick in jumping over to the appease the warmongers.
If this continues into 2012, I will write in a candidate. He has to do some real reversals, and soon, but so far all I see is the same policies in place playing the same game as the last 8 yrs with a few tweaks.

[flyarm]

15. K&R..and the Tillman's are not happy ..about this guy..read here..

They said he died a hero by enemy fire, when he was killed by our men, some believe for reasons to distract, create another hero after Jessica Lynch, and gain support once again for the war....

Tillman's parents want general's record reviewed
Source: AP:

WASHINGTON – The parents of slain Army Ranger and NFL star Pat Tillman voiced concerns Tuesday that the general who played a role in mischaracterizing his death could be put in charge of military operations in Afghanistan.

In a brief interview with The Associated Press, Pat Tillman Sr. accused Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal of covering up the circumstances of the 2004 slaying.

"I do believe that guy participated in a falsified homicide investigation," Pat Tillman Sr. said.

Separately, Mary Tillman called it "imperative" that McChrystal's record be carefully considered before he is confirmed.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090513/ap_on_go_ot/us_afgh...

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

then this:

"Did newly announced top Afghan general run Cheney's assassination wing?"

It was a point of pride that the Red Cross would never be allowed in the door, Jeff says. This is important because it defied the Geneva Conventions, which require that the Red Cross have access to military prisons. "Once, somebody brought it up with the colonel. 'Will they ever be allowed in here?' And he said absolutely not. He had this directly from General McChrystal and the Pentagon that there's no way that the Red Cross could get in--they won't have access and they never will. This facility was completely closed off to anybody investigating, even Army investigators."

http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/05/did-newly-announced-to...

[Triana]

18. I think the Tillmans are justified and I read about the Red Cross never being allowed into

TF 6-26 from one of the other links.

This stuff just gets deeper and more sickening. . . I think we ALL ought to be concerned about this monster.

[flyarm]

24. Yeah i read that as well..look...

we are no longer ..two parties..we lost that long ago..we have one party with one damn big money pot in the middle!!..we better all stay dang vigilant!!

[Mari333]

17. and more

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stan-goff/mcchrystal-pelosi_b_204211.html

time to drag out the protest signs, banners, bells and whistles, dust them off, and get back in the game of protesting another war.

[Triana]

25. I am about to puke now...

"The real kicker is that Obama will probably support this guy; and this at the same time that Obama just placed himself between the ACLU and a bunch of torture photographs from places just like the ones that McChrystal developed and commanded in Iraq and Afghanistan."

And I love the author of this piece, Stan Goff. I've met him, gone to his talks. One given after a film about the abuses in Abu Ghraib.

[crikkett]

36. Oh my. Could it be that O. is protecting McChrystal by hiding the photos? n/t

[Triana]

37. I dunno crikket - it will be interesting to see how Obama handles Gates' recommendation of

...McChrystal to command the war in Afghanistan - particularly knowing that Obama is no dummy and certainly is aware of his (McChrystal's) monsterously hideous background.

I WISH he'd have gotten rid of Gates instead of keeping him on. He needs a NEW Sec'y of Defense. Gates is a holdover from the bush-dick torture cabal - obviously.

[noamnety]

39. Stan is the best.

I wish there were more people like him (anyone like him?) running the show.

[lunatica]

26. Reading the links is incredibly scary...

How chilling! These guys are like Xe (Blackwater) only I suspect they shy away from any exposure. I'm very glad to find this out though. The truth is always preferable no matter how scary or nasty.

Damn! This is really worrisome!

[Raksha]

29. I just read the Esquire article about Stanley McChristal and Camp Nama...

the one republished from 2006. This is the deal-breaker for me. EITHER Obama is under the control of the Bush-Cheney mafia OR he is in league with them--a Trojan horse president as some people have said. Neither one is acceptable. There is just no way he could have picked this psychopath to lead the forces in Afghanistan without knowing what he was. No way in hell...not if Esquire knew in 2006.

[Triana]

31. Robert Gates picked McChrystal - but SURELY Obama knows about him...

...and knows what he is - a MONSTER.

Doesn't Gates have a boss? Isn't that Obama? I didn't like that Obama retained Gates in his administration - and THIS illustrates why.

[glitch]

32. I think he faces the same threats that Congress faces.

I don't believe he is in league with them willingly. There is no excuse for McChrystal, but then again there are no excuses for quite a few other appointees.

I believe this is what he meant in his acceptance speech, that we wouldn't be happy with a lot of his actions and that we would have to make him do what is right. Members of Congress have said the same thing, we the people have to provide the cover they require to do their jobs. Sounds like they are having to work in very hostile territory to me. :scared:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Tierra_y_Libertad]

34. Rearranging generals on the Titanic rather than admit the "war" is lost.

Bad PR to face up to reality, donchya know.