On October first, General Stanley McChrystal, the commanding officer in
Afghanistan, made a speech to the International Institute for Strategic
Studies in London that implicitly repudiated Vice President Biden’s
proposals for refocusing the war as one against Al Qaeda in Pakistan
rather than the Taliban in Afghanistan. In his speech, the General
dismissed the claim that Afghanistan “is a graveyard of empires” as
“untrue”. Given the deteriorating situation that, more than anything
else, has prompted Biden’s “dovish” stance, one wonders if McChrystal is
whistling in the graveyard.
If you read the speech, you will not find much in the way of Fox-TV
rhetoric. Indeed, the main thrust against Biden took place in the Q&A
when the General was asked whether he favored a strategy in Afghanistan
of killing top insurgent leaders with unmanned drones and missiles that
was associated with the peace-loving VP. He replied, “The short, glib
answer is no. You have to navigate from where you are, not from where
you wish you were. … A strategy that does not leave Afghanistan in a
stable position is probably a short-sighted strategy.”
read full article:
http://louisproyect.wordpress.com/2009/10/09/civilian-control-of-the-military/
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