Posted on 09/26/2009 5:00:24 AM PDT by nuconvert
An army general who is reported to have criticised aspects of the war in Afghanistan has resigned.
Reports said Maj Gen Andrew Mackay, General Officer Commanding Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England, was unhappy about strategy.
Prince Harry spent 10 weeks from December 2007 in Afghanistan under the command of Maj Gen Mackay.
The Ministry of Defence has insisted that the general's departure was a "personal matter".
Maj Gen Mackay's operational tour to Afghanistan was notable for the re-capture of Musa Qaleh, a strategic town, from the Taliban.
He was subsequently awarded a CBE for his role in the mission.
Maj Gen Mackay's resignation comes as the Daily Telegraph reported that a mole who leaked details of MPs' expenses said he was partly motivated by anger at inadequate equipment for UK troops.
'Serious blow'
Maj Nick Haston, who was Maj Gen Mackay's deputy chief of staff, resigned from the Army earlier this year in protest at policy and equipment shortages.
Maj Haston told BBC Radio 4's World at One programme that he was "very shocked and surprised" at the news of his superior's resignation.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
5.56mm
I think there’s a good chance of McChrystal being next if he doesn’t get more troops.
Well, these guys are Brits and the excerpt didn’t really make clear why he resigned except to say he was unhappy about strategy without going into detail. His objections to the strategy could be anything.
Once an officer receives his orders his only real form of protest is to resign. I can tell you as a former AF officer, committing career suicide is more agonizing than anything including combat. If these guys are quitting they are saying as loudly and clearly as they can that something is very wrong. If McChrystal were to quit the message to Obama would be Chrystal clear. I haven’t heard that even mentioned though.
Military resignations in the UK and possibly here over troop support and planning. That’s not the way to keep the military solidly behind the administration. Actions (and inactions) have consequences.
There have been threads on FR during this past week about that possibility.
I saw those threads and I also saw the General’s denial so I’ll have to stick by my statement until somthing more concrete than speculation shows up.
Please people, it is not about more troops, it is about ROE! When the Marines were sent to the theatre, the KIA’s rose dramatically because at the same time the ROE was changed. We need to bring the argument back to this very critical issue. The troop numbers are a diversion and if implemented, the numbers coming back home under flags will just rise as well without the ROE being changed to a winnable strategy.
Apparently the communist camps of social engineering known by the more sinister name "Public Schools" have done an excellent job of convincing most Americans that we do not need to worry about those evil communists taking over...
Aaaaaaah... My head's starting to hurt again.
“Military resignations in the UK and possibly here over troop support and planning. That’s not the way to keep the military solidly behind the administration”
That just means that Obama needs to select generals who are in agreement that we should leave. Then he gets to say that he was just listening to his generals.
Bring em home. The enemy is here now in DC.
The constitution needs defending.
We need the pro constitution military to save us before there is a Red army installed in its place.
You’re right to bring up ROE. I think both are part of the
strategy.
I am sure many of us can not appreciate personally how difficult it would be to throw away years of hard work, dedicated service and endless times of A**kissing to one day have to “resign’..plus the heartwrenching feeling of leaving the troops in a time of need of moral leadership.
These officers deserve our utmost respect and honor in their courageous stand!
I was on a nuclear missile site in Turkey that didn't exist. We had a surgeon who rotated back to the States, right after Jimmah Carter became president. His replacement was a gynecologist. Good guy, got to know him when I came down with amoebic dysentery. The only problem was we didn't have any females.
He resigned after about 2 months. I'm sure it was the most difficult thing he had ever done.
5.56mm
Of the things you said the most important is the demoralizing effect it might have on the troops if they respect the leadership of the officer in question. In this particular case, if McChrystal were to resign after calling for enough troops to secure victory the message would be devastating to those guys. “We’re not going to get the manpower and tools we need to win so just what the hell are we over here getting shot at for?”
You are so right, nowhere else than in the military is the leadership so crucial to the mission and to the safety of the troops.
a pic posted on Freep this week of some troops in Afghanistan watching the news and standing there ...they looked dejected.
I think we will see it in 15 days if obama continues his currrent pattern, maybe even before.
I think he is starting to see he is being set up to be a scapegoat. The administration liked him because of his COIN strategy (conservative when applying close air and fire support; even though I think it is questionable at best, and possibly criminal at worst) emphasizing civilian casualties.
However, he will be thrown to the wolves if the American public thinks Afghanistan is spiraling out of control. By the way, where is General Petraeus? Notice how quickly the admin shoved him out of the limelight.
Nobody knows really what the strategy there is...all bound up with Iran and China.
One “Strategy” we know for sure doesn’t work is the one in which we wait for the “civilians” to leave the huts so that we can get the bad guys.
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