Tuesday, May. 12, 2009
Stan McChrystal: The New U.S. Commander in Afghanistan
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1897542,00.html
General Stan McChrystal is just the guy to turn things around. On May 11, Gates announced plans to install the former Green Beret as the top U.S. and NATO commander for the troubled nation.
“Nothing went wrong and there was nothing specific,” Gates said of asking General David McKiernan, the outgoing commander, to step down just 11 months into a two-year post. “The focus here is simply on getting fresh thinking, fresh eyes on the problem.”
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They wanted McChrystal, and now deny him Troops.
McChrystal is truly mistaken in his change of ROE, most Troops aren’t Green Berets and shouldn’t be put at such a disadvantage
It’s still not entirely clear to me who makes these ROE. I realize that the commander announces them and obviously defines them in a specific sense, but where do the general strategies and guidelines originate?
McChrystal actually does seem to care about his troops and it’s hard for me to imagine that out of the clear blue, he would just decide on ROE that he had to know would result in more of them getting killed.
I see some people blaming him solely for this, and maybe the blame is his alone, but it doesn’t make sense that he would do this.