McChrystal sees victory ahead in Afghanistan

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=66983

By Drew Brown, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Saturday, January 2, 2010

U.S. and allied forces in Afghanistan “are not winning yet, but we are going to win,” Gen. Stanley McChrystal, commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, told Stars and Stripes in an interview Friday.

But the general said it was not possible to say how long it will take to achieve victory, which he defined as a situation where “the insurgency is not an existential threat to the government or the people” of Afghanistan. He added that protecting civilians remains the goal of the allied counterinsurgency strategy.

“There’s no way to put an exact timeline on it, because as I’ve said, the Afghan people will decide {what victory is},” McChrystal said, speaking by phone from Kabul. “{But} I believe that over the next year to 18 months that we’re going to be able to decisively change the perception of momentum and gains by the insurgents.” snip

He dismissed recent claims by the Afghan Taliban that they control 80 percent of the country.

“They have presence in a number of areas, and in some areas, they have a significant amount of control,” he said. “In other areas, they have presence, but not much real control. But they are trying to give the impression to everybody that there’s this inexorable wave that’s coming, and that’s not what I see at all.”

[elocs]

1. If that is true than he has embraced and worships the DU god.

He must be one toke over the line.

[Cleita]

2. Victory is just over the next setback. Yep, I remember Vietnam. n/t

[rollingrock]

3. "We are not viewed as occupiers now"

“What we are working on is that we’re really focusing on getting counterinsurgency, protecting the people, in the minds of the Afghan people. We are not viewed as occupiers now.”


straight from the lips of the Bush crony who concocted the Pat Tillman cover-up and ran the abu Ghraib torture prisons in Iraq. this McChrystal guy is a real piece a work.

[Don Caballero]

4. McChrystal seemed like a bad choice by the President

But like much that our President has done, he has turned out to be a breath of fresh air. Under his command I believe we can defeat the Al Qaeda and Taliban in Af/Pak.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. ".a breath of fresh air.." with the same old smelly PR.

[Don Caballero]

12. I objected to his appointment for the Tillman episode

When the facts came out about the incident it was more cut and dry than the conspiracy theorists were leading on.

[blues90]

14. You have to be kidding! nt

[rollingrock]

18. Breath of fresh air?

more like a breath of poison carbon monoxide-laced air. He's nothing but a Bush crony holdover spewing the same absurd Bush-style talking points and lies.

[roamer65]

5. LOL.

More lies from the lie factory. The Soviets spouted the same crap.

[panader0]

6. No timeline =never........ .insurgents=Afghanis

We are the enemy.

[asjr]

7. In his McChrystal ball.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

8. Oh, Joy! The "light at the end of the tunnel" is lit again..and, again...and, again.

The Pentagon really should get a new script writer for their fiction.

[IndianaGreen]

17. No, shit! It is the same shit we heard from a previous generation of generals

The brass would get the grunts all killed.

[spanone]

10. ....and general, just what the fuck do we win?

[G_j]

11. that's easy, the dude has a hard time w/ the truth

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."

..more..

[UTUSN]

13. Um, O.Tay. Can we get out now?!1 n/t

[amborin]

15. for the Chinese?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=7371221&mesg_id=7373001

[IndianaGreen]

16. General McCrazy also wants to to keep pure all of our precious bodily fluids.

General Jack D. Ripper: Mandrake, do you recall what Clemenceau once said about war?

Group Capt. Lionel Mandrake: No, I don't think I do, sir, no.

General Jack D. Ripper: He said war was too important to be left to the generals. When he said that, 50 years ago, he might have been right. But today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057012/quotes

[classysassy]

19. Will the american people

ever be told the real reason we are in afganistan?

[Blecht]

20. A pony!

He predicts a shiny pony will appear! Hallelujah!