McChrystal Clear?
Yesterday: I learned that Stanley McChrystal was being appointed to head the US military effort in Afghanistan. I wondered who he was, and was honestly kind of shocked by his history. He’s one of the people who participated in the coverup surrounding Pat Tillman’s death, and in Iraq, he was in charge of Task Force 6-26, which tortured people at Camp Nama from 2003 to 2006.
Today: I learned the administration has decided to reverse its decision to honor the ACLU’s FOIA request for photos of American torture in Iraq.
I cannot help but wonder: do those photos contain evidence about illegalities that went on under McChrystal’s watch?
Comment by mds —
May 13, 2009 @ 3:42 pm
Word on the Wall Street is that McKiernan was pushed out by “surge” advocates, and after consultation with The Man Called Petraeus. I suppose it’s still good that Gates is there to provide partial cover for the military budget overhaul, but this is a little bit too “old boss.”
And even if the photos aren’t a smoking gun about McChrystal’s dereliction of duty at best, and war crimes at worst, I’m sure that the administration felt that awkward questions might be raised. (Like they won’t be raised anyway? Well, not by the liberal media.)
Given the premises of our Afghan mission, I can see the need to bring in more counterinsurgency-oriented people, but this couldn’t have been the only such choice. Rodriguez couldn’t have gotten his fourth star, since he has to run the day-to-day show now anyway? Not that I know anything about the contents of his closet, but the 82nd Airborne presumably had slightly fewer opportunities for war crimes.
Comment by Doug T —
May 14, 2009 @ 8:17 am
On the Tillman case, from what I’ve heard, McChrystal was not part of the cover-up. In fact, he warned early on about the possibility of fratricide in this case.
From a quick google search:
http://milfuegos.blogspot.com/2009/05/mcchrystal-tried-to-warn-bush.html
“There was much discussion of an April 29, 2004, “P-FOR” or “Personal For” message sent by then-Major General Stanley McChrystal, commander of the Joint Special Operations Command and Afghan Task Force, to Commander of U.S. Special Operations Command General Bryan “Doug” Brown, General Kensinger, and Commander of U.S. Central Command Gen. John Abizaid, both headquartered in Tampa, Florida. Abizaid was an “action” addressee on the P-FOR and Kensinger and Brown were “Info” addressees, similar to a cc: addressee. The Tillman P-FOR, a high priority, sensitive, and rare message sent to the commanders and which was not for general distribution, stated that there was a strong likelihood of fratricide in the Tillman death. Rumsfeld testified that he did not recall seeing the P-FOR.
However, the P-FOR from McChrystal said that it was important to let the Defense Secretary and President know about the possibility of fratricide before they made an incorrect and potentially embarrassing statements concerning the death.”
Comment by Dr. Kenneth Noisewater —
May 14, 2009 @ 9:07 am
Eagerly anticipating what form the tendentious Merrimack Valley spin will take in defense of this bit of “meet the new boss…” news. The smart money is betting on Chickenshit Disappearing Act but there has also been significant wagering on Difficult Compromises Must Be Made When You’re In Charge Which is Something You Libertarians Wouldn’t Know Anything About.
Comment by Nell —
May 14, 2009 @ 1:05 pm
@Doug T:
Despite having sent that warning, McChrystal went right ahead with signing off on awarding Tillman a posthumous medal, an integral part of the propaganda screen.
@Neel: Great post. I hadn’t read it when I posted along similar lines, and will update with a link to your interesting speculation.
My sense is that Obama’s just after a delay to try to get through the confirmation hearings, because he’s not likely to get the Supreme Court to hear an appeal (the only route to long-term suppression of the photos).
Comment by joe from Lowell —
May 17, 2009 @ 1:15 pm
Dr. Ken,
I like the fact that I loom so large in your mind that your response upon seeing a news item is to think about me.
For my part, I’d forgotten you exist.
Comment by joe from Lowell —
May 17, 2009 @ 1:29 pm
Huh. And all this time, I thought the habit of using commentary on blogs as a measure of courage was limited to the morons of the right-wing persuasion.
I guess not.