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Published on Thursday, July 1, 2010 by Democracy Now!
Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone on the Story that Brought Down Gen. McChrystal and Exposed Widening Disputes Behind the U.S. Debacle in Afghanistan
In a rare extended interview, we speak to Michael Hastings, whose article in Rolling Stone magazine led to the firing of General Stanley McChrystal. Hastings’ piece quoted McChrystal and his aides making disparaging remarks about top administration officials, and exposed long-standing disagreements between civilian and military officials over the conduct of the war. The Senate confirmed General David Petraues as McChrystal’s replacement on Wednesday, one day after McChrystal announced his retirement from the military on Tuesday after a 34-year career.
© 2010 Democracy Now!
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16 Comments so far
Show AllThe problem with wars is they become "facts on the ground".
What this discussion lacked on both sides was an examination of why anyone named McChystal or Petraeus are in Afghanistan.
There is no point in discussing whether a strategy, especially on that involves the murder of thousands of innocent people and an attack on the land and sovereignty of a nation, is "successful" unless it is linked to a legitimate goal.
The fact that there seems to be no legitimate goal (or at least one that stands up to scrutiny) reduces every discussion to minutiae. When war crimes and crimes against humanity are at issue, shouldn't we take this more seriously?
Not only is the strategy a failure but plausible reason for conducting a military campaign doesn't exist.
That's important information. It bears repeating.
So true.The US and its allies went there under false pretenses and got the go ahead from the UN because of the sentiment of the moment after 9/11.But retribution for an act of terrorism,of which the true perpetrators are still not known beyond the shadow of a doubt,has already turned into an unforgivable series of war crimes.We are supposed to believe,that Osama bin Laden is behind the original attack,but never had a thorough examination of the facts.It seemed,that the federal government of the day was in a hurry to cover any evidence,that might prove the official story false.What was the hurry?Was 9/11 not the original reason to invade Afghanistan?
Lara Logan can kiss my booty.
This journalist was serving his country by getting the facts out to the people of the USA. That's what the press is supposed to do. I'm sick and tired of all this BS about all this flag waving horse hockey. This general may have covered up this ranger's death. He sanctioned torture. What the hell is that besides grounds for him being prosecuted war crimes?
Since when has this general ever been known to be any kind of an Audie Murphy. Please I'd doubt if he ever was even close to it. The people down in the ranks as a rule who are the real heroes and even were in the Second World War. Dorian Gray, a black seaman at Pearl Harbor, who wasn't even by navy regulation not even allowed to perform any combat role, became a hero as he grabbed an anti aircraft gun and began firing at Japanese planes bombing and strafing the US Navy and other military forces at Pearl Harbor coming under attack. He saved a white officer and some other white military personnel at Pearl Harbor and it was even captured on newsreel used in Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" documentary. The USA's people got an opportunity to see how very heroic a black man could be thanks to Capra.
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Lara Logan can kiss my booty.
This journalist was serving his country by getting the facts out to the people of the USA. That's what the press is supposed to do. I'm sick and tired of all this BS about all this flag waving horse hockey. This general may have covered up this ranger's death. He sanctioned torture. What the hell is that besides grounds for him being prosecuted war crimes?
Since when has this general ever been known to be any kind of an Audie Murphy. Please I'd doubt if he ever was even close to it. The people down in the ranks as a rule who are the real heroes and even were in the Second World War. Dorian Gray, a black seaman at Pearl Harbor, who wasn't even by navy regulation not even allowed to perform any combat role, became a hero as he grabbed an anti aircraft gun and began firing at Japanese planes bombing and strafing the US Navy and other military forces at Pearl Harbor coming under attack. He saved a white officer and some other white military personnel at Pearl Harbor and it was even captured on newsreel used in Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" documentary. The USA's people got an opportunity to see how very heroic a black man could be thanks to Capra.
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Lara Logan can kiss my booty.
This journalist was serving his country by getting the facts out to the people of the USA. That's what the press is supposed to do. I'm sick and tired of all this BS about all this flag waving horse hockey. This general may have covered up this ranger's death. He sanctioned torture. What the hell is that besides grounds for him being prosecuted war crimes?
Since when has this general ever been known to be any kind of an Audie Murphy. Please I'd doubt if he ever was even close to it. The people down in the ranks as a rule who are the real heroes and even were in the Second World War. Dorian Gray, a black seaman at Pearl Harbor, who wasn't even by navy regulation not even allowed to perform any combat role, became a hero as he grabbed an anti aircraft gun and began firing at Japanese planes bombing and strafing the US Navy and other military forces at Pearl Harbor coming under attack. He saved a white officer and some other white military personnel at Pearl Harbor and it was even captured on newsreel used in Frank Capra's "Why We Fight" documentary. The USA's people got an opportunity to see how very heroic a black man could be thanks to Capra.
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Thanks for that beautiful wordplay.I hope you don`t mind,if I use it in my reactions in other papers and magazines.
Lara Logan...nice-looking j-school grad who couldn't care less that any suffering might occur as a result of her very professional defense of murder incorporated
The troops are not insane.They are also victims,who will have to live with their (mis)deeds done in this war against innocent people,and were ordered to do what they are doing by their masters in Washington,where they take orders from their masters again.Check the following link to know who they are: http://www.dailypaul.com/node/73847
Enjoy.
Cerberus states that "[the troops] were ordered to do what they are doing by their masters." Let us be very clear about this. Not all the soldiers, even in a country that no longer has a military draft, are robots. Former marine Dan Felushko, who deserted from his unit in 2004, is one of them. He is quoted in Robert Fantina's book Desertion and the American Soldier as wisely noting:
"I didn't want 'Died, deluded in Iraq' over my gravestone".
It is way past the point that the vast majority of the robots in the military reach the same epiphany as Felsuhko did and that his observation applies just as much to Afghanistan as it does to Iraq.
They can also recognize the wisdom of what German playwright Bertolt Brecht said in his poem General, Your Tank Is a Powerful Vehicle and by doing what the military most fears:
General, man is very useful.
He can fly and he can kill.
But he has one defect:
He can think.
If they then do finally think and then finally realize that what the U.S. is doing in Afghanistan and Iraq is both illegal and immoral, then perhaps they can, at long last, begin to emulate their predecessors of some forty to five years ago who had the courage and integrity to say NO to the U.S. war machine in a place called Vietnam.
Obama said, "It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system". OK, he is right in that in a democracy, the military should be under civilian control. But does he imply that by replacing McChrystal with Petraeus, he has brought the military under civilian control? Suppose Obama is convinced that the wars should be ended, troops brought home, and a whole bunch of military bases closed down around the world - can he do that? Civilian control...yeah, right!
Obama would have done well in Hollywood - he does get his lines out flawlessly.
They are all criminals.........Obama
one down.............belong behind bars.
That Simple..............
Freedom of the Press,,,,
If the press would be free to do their jobs, their duty to protect the constitution which give the press the power to hold all three branches of government officials accountable to the American people,,,
There would have been no wars, no trillion dollar theft of treasure , no deaths to our troops, Iraqs , Afghans,
there would have been proper to or three year investigation of 9/11, not the sweep away and rush to war propaganda ,discussion of using Interpol to go after international murderers, no a declaration of war on a noun,
terrorist
–noun
1.
a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.
2.
a person who terrorizes or frightens others.
Does that sound like a whole country to you???
WMDs in Iraq, bull ,, Oil in Iraq,
If the press had done their jobs, their duty , we would not have the draconian patriot act pushing the Constitution out to pasture.
The neocons are terrorists.Look at what they have done to our country, and the Democrats were to afraid to stop them without the help of the free press.
If the press want to keep American freedoms , their had better be more Hastings articles and interviews.
Better late than never again.
BornFreeMen, Joe Spagnuolo Bradenton Florida, victim of community watch fusion center gang stalking torture 24/7 for three years and running.
Live Free or Die.I choose to fight with my words, no more anonymity.
And Iran is next up? Can't have Afghanistan looking like a wash to get people to go for a third front.
The USA can have a democracy or and empire, but it can't have both.
Since Ronald Reagan we have an empire. Under Obama the die will be set. No democracy here.