More McChrystal [Rich Lowry]
I’ve now read the piece, which — as you might expect — is very defeatist. I’ll make some more observations later, but it’s worth recalling that — whatever his media-management skills — McChrystal is an extraordinarily brave man. Rolling Stone reminds us of this:
He went out on dozens of night-time raids during his time in Iraq, unprecedented for a top commander, and turned up on missions unannounced, with almost no entourage. “The f—-ing lads love Stan McChrystal,” says a British officer who serves in Kabul. “You’d be out in Somewhere, Iraq, and someone would take a knee beside you, and a corporal would be like ‘Who the f—- is that?’ And it’s f—-ing Stan McChrystal.”
And there’s this from Afghanistan:
In March, McChrystal traveled to Combat Outpost JFM — a small encampment on the outskirts of Kandahar — to confront such accusations from the troops directly. It was a typically bold move by the general. Only two days earlier, he had received an email from Israel Arroyo, a 25-year-old staff sergeant who asked McChrystal to go on a mission with his unit. “I am writing because it was said you don’t care about the troops and have made it harder to defend outselves,” Arroyo wrote.
Within hours, McChrystal responded personally: “I’m saddened by the accusation that I don’t care about soldiers, as it is something I suspect any soldier takes both personally and professionally — at least I do. But I know perceptions depend upon your perspective at the time, and I respect that every soldier’s view is his own.” Then he showed up at Arroyo’s outpost and went on a foot patrol with the troops — not some bulls—-t photo-op stroll through a market, but a real live operation in a dangerous war zone.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTE2YzM1NTk4ZDk4NjIwMDQ4YmU5MmZiOTE0NmJkNDA=
This is something you will NEVER see from Obama
Tuesday, June 22, 2010 6:09:18 PM · 24 of 41
MestaMachine to Constitution Day
McChrystal’s real offense
By: Byron York
June 22, 2010
There is a lot of uproar about Gen. Stanley’s McChrystal’s disrespectful comments about his civilian bosses in the Obama administration, and President Obama would be entirely justified in firing McChrystal for statements McChrystal and his subordinates made to Rolling Stone. Obama is a deeply flawed commander-in-chief who doesn’t want to be fighting a war on terror, but he is the commander-in-chief. He should have a general who will carry out his policies without public complaint until the voters can decide to change those policies
But the bigger problem with McChrystal’s leadership has always been the general’s devotion to unreasonably restrictive rules of engagement that are resulting in the unnecessary deaths of American and coalition forces. We have had many, many accounts of the rules endangering Americans, and the Rolling Stone article provides more evidence. In the story, a soldier at Combat Outpost JFM who had earlier met with McChrystal was killed in a house that American officers had asked permission to destroy. From the article:
The night before the general is scheduled to visit Sgt. Arroyo’s platoon for the memorial, I arrive at Combat Outpost JFM to speak with the soldiers he had gone on patrol with. JFM is a small encampment, ringed by high blast walls and guard towers. Almost all of the soldiers here have been on repeated combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and have seen some of the worst fighting of both wars. But they are especially angered by Ingram’s death. His commanders had repeatedly requested permission to tear down the house where Ingram was killed, noting that it was often used as a combat position by the Taliban. But due to McChrystal’s new restrictions to avoid upsetting civilians, the request had been denied. “These were abandoned houses,” fumes Staff Sgt. Kennith Hicks. “Nobody was coming back to live in them.”
One soldier shows me the list of new regulations the platoon was given. “Patrol only in areas that you are reasonably certain that you will not have to defend yourselves with lethal force,” the laminated card reads. For a soldier who has traveled halfway around the world to fight, that’s like telling a cop he should only patrol in areas where he knows he won’t have to make arrests. “Does that make any f–king sense?” Pfc. Jared Pautsch. “We should just drop a f–king bomb on this place. You sit and ask yourself: What are we doing here?”
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To which you responded with this same article adding:
= I can’t seem to find any report of the death of soldier, Israel Arroyo who sent the letter.
June 22, 2010 8:04:14 PM by anglian
I corrected you and told you it was not Arroyo but Ingram at 9:14:27
You responded again at 9:21:09 PM
Something is fishy. Here’s the only Ingram I could find.
And he was not killed in a house or building.
Sgt. Matthew L. Ingram
Hometown:Pearl, Mississippi, U.S.
Age:25 years old
Died:August 21, 2009 in Operation Enduring Freedom.
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To which I replied and corrected you again:
To: anglian
Army Sgt. Michael K. Ingram Jr. Died April 17, 2010 serving during Operation Enduring Freedom
Army Sgt. Michael K. Ingram Jr., 23, of Monroe, Mich.; assigned to the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colo.; died April 17 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, of wounds sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his dismounted patrol.Was nearing 1-year mark in AfghanistanArmy Sgt. Michael K. Ingram Jr.
The Associated Press
FORT CARSON, Colo. — A 23-year-old Fort Carson soldier died when an improvised explosive device detonated near him while he was on patrol in Afghanistan.
Military officials say Sgt. Michael K. Ingram Jr. of Monroe, Mich., died April 17 in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
He was assigned to 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, based at Fort Carson.
Ingram had been awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart medals. He was on his first deployment and had been in Afghanistan since last May.
35 posted on Tuesday, June 22, 2010 9:42:15 PM by MestaMachine
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All of this was before 10:00 PM. Yet you still posted this article which is a half truth at best when you knew better.
Why?
Had you done a little more looking, you would have found that McC's visit to JFM was less than well received by the Troops.
I actually think for a General Officer to do that is kind of patehtic.
The best thing any enlisted, or officer, can do is do what they are supposed to do. No General who is critical,or the best, or thinks he is the best, is serving his troops under him by getting killed in some small unit action.
It is like a great emergency room physician getting killed for a sprain ankle at a softball game in a town park.