Stanley McChrystal

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McChrystal Should 'Shut Up'
 McChrystal Should 'Shut Up' 
OPINION
Oct 5, 2009 4:27 PM CDT

McChrystal Should 'Shut Up'

General's job is to advise the president, not lobby publicly for policy changes

(Newser) - The decisions President Obama will make following his review of Afghanistan policy will be some of the most important of his presidency. The last thing he needs, then, is a rogue general waging a public campaign for the adoption of his preferred strategy. To be sure, Stanley McChrystal deserves enormous...

Military Advice to Obama Should Be Private: Gates

Defense secretary joins criticism of McChrystal

(Newser) - Military commanders should give their advice on Afghanistan to President Obama, not to the public, Robert Gates said today. In an implicit reprimand to Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who has commented openly on his low opinion of the administration’s Afghanistan policy, the defense secretary said such advice should be given...

Weak Afghan al-Qaeda Calls Surge Into Question

Whether Taliban will facilitate or shun terror group is up in the air

(Newser) - The principal rationale for the original US invasion of Afghanistan was the elimination of an al-Qaeda safe haven. Almost a decade later, the terrorist group is much diminished there, as well as in Pakistan, prompting serious second thoughts within the administration about ramping up forces in the region. Aides to...

Petraeus Goes Quiet, for Good or Ill
Petraeus Goes Quiet, for
Good or Ill
ANALYSIS
Oct 5, 2009 6:11 AM CDT

Petraeus Goes Quiet, for Good or Ill

Face of Iraq surge disappears in Afghanistan debate

(Newser) - By the end of George W. Bush's second term David Petraeus was the country's most famous military man, carpeting the media with interviews and pressing the flesh on Capitol Hill. The general who personified the Iraq troop surge is still around, and spoke up in strategy sessions with Barack Obama...

Obama Lashed McChrystal in Tense Faceoff

Prez reads commander riot act over his 'Chaos-istan' dig

(Newser) - President Obama's talk last week aboard Air Force One with Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal wasn't merely a meeting, as was widely reported in the press, but a dressing down over the general's "shocking" recent comments calling for more troops, says the Telegraph. McChrystal was called on the carpet...

Disastrous 2008 Battle Sways Afghanistan Strategy

Report details heroism, costly errors in firefight that left 9 dead

(Newser) - A battle 18 months ago that has come be called the "Black Hawk Down" of Afghanistan, with nine Americans soldiers killed and 27 wounded, is drawing new scrutiny in Washington as a snapshot of what has gone wrong in the war effort there. A company of paratroopers, who had...

McChrystal Meets With Obama to Make His Case

(Newser) - President Obama squeezed in a quick, unannounced meeting this morning with Gen. Stanley McChrystal during his trip to Copenhagen. The two met for about a half-hour aboard Air Force One, where McChrystal presumably made his case in person for more troops in Afghanistan. The general flew in from London, where...

White House Split on Afghanistan Strategy

'Skeptic-in-chief' Biden challenges McChrystal's call for more troops

(Newser) - Gen. Stanley McChrystal's call to beef up the war effort in Afghanistan is proving a tough sell with senior administration officials.  White House advisers challenged many aspects of the commander's assessment at a meeting this week, including his belief that al-Qaeda would again find sanctuary in Afghanistan if the...

Obama May Need GOP to Send More Troops

Democrats uneasy about Afghan buildup

(Newser) - If President Obama decides to go along with Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s request for 40,000 more troops in Afghanistan, he’s probably going to need Republican help to do it. Democrats are increasingly opposed to the buildup, with party leaders telling the Washington Post they worry that more American...

Rove Warns Prez: Don't Leave Afghanistan to Biden

Obama should drop his 'aloof' approach and start listening to his commanders

(Newser) - President Obama's hands-off approach to Afghanistan may suit his governing style but it's no way to win a war, writes Karl Rove. The president has only spoken with his top commander in Afghanistan once since June, notes Rove. This apparent indifference to conditions on the ground contrasts sharply with his...

Leakers Have Agendas&mdash;That Journos Hide
Leakers Have Agendas—That Journos Hide
ANALYSIS
Sep 28, 2009 7:58 AM CDT

Leakers Have Agendas—That Journos Hide

From gossip to war, the press is too kind to its sources

(Newser) - In the past few days the New York Times and Washington Post broke three major stories with the help of leaks: John Edwards' readiness to declare paternity, Stanley McChrystal's blunt assessment of the Afghanistan war, and Barack Obama's intervention in the New York governor's race. For Post media columnist...

Americans Fed Up With Afghan War
 Americans Fed Up 
 With Afghan War 
OPINION
Sep 26, 2009 9:59 AM CDT

Americans Fed Up With Afghan War

(Newser) - The Obama administration is busy figuring out how to fine-tune its Afghan strategy while most Americans by and large just want us out of there. "A clash is coming," warns Bob Herbert. Most people are tired of the war, worried about the recession, and in no mood for...

Brooks: Listen to McChrystal
 Brooks: 
 Listen to McChrystal 
opinion
Sep 25, 2009 9:12 AM CDT

Brooks: Listen to McChrystal

President Obama must dismiss 'graveyard of empires' remarks

(Newser) - Talk to people who have a superficial sense of Afghanistan, and you'll hear the same thing: It's a "graveyard of empires," and the US needs to get out. Genuine experts, people who live there, dismiss the stereotype as "rubbish" and take a more "guardedly optimistic" view....

McChrystal Surprised by 'Breadth of Violence'
McChrystal Surprised by 'Breadth of Violence'
Interview
Sep 25, 2009 7:22 AM CDT

McChrystal Surprised by 'Breadth of Violence'

Civilian casualties all-important in Afghanistan, commander says

(Newser) - Gen. Stanley McChrystal, whose mission for the last few months has been to size up the situation in Afghanistan and redirect US strategy, says he found the violence to be worse than he expected going in. “I think that in some areas that the breadth of violence, the geographical...

Taliban Widens Afghan Attacks From Pakistan Base

Forces controlled from Pakistan respond nimbly

(Newser) - The Afghan Taliban leadership operating out of Pakistan has surprised the US military by countering its offensive in southern Afghanistan with a shrewd expansion into the north and west of the country. “They’ve outmaneuvered us time and time again,” an intelligence official tells the New York Times....

McChrystal Denies Rift, Says He's Not Quitting

General will not resign, even if his requests are not honored

(Newser) - General McChrystal says his bleak assessment of the US effort in Afghanistan has not created any ill will between him and the Obama administration, and he welcomed the national debate over the mission. In an interview with the New York Times, McChrystal also denied rumors that he will resign he...

Congress Wants McChrystal in Hot Seat

Members of both parties want testimony, but Pentagon is not forthcoming

(Newser) - With the White House beset by classified leaks and agonizing over a new Afghan strategy, lawmakers from both parties in both Houses of Congress are calling for a sitdown with Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the Wall Street Journal reports. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has refused requests for testimony from McChrystal until...

Post Held Off Afghan Story at DoD Request

Pentagon got one-day delay, and redacted McChrystal report

(Newser) - When Bob Woodward obtained Gen. Stanley McChrystal's classified report on Afghanistan, the Obama administration asked for and got a one-day delay in publication from the Washington Post, the paper reports. Woodward and the Post’s editor met with Pentagon officials Sunday and agreed to remove some sensitive information from the...

Congress, Military Question 'Protect Afghans' Rule

(Newser) - With US casualties mounting in Afghanistan, some members of Congress are questioning recent orders that have put troops at greater risk in order to protect Afghan civilians, the Washington Post reports. Gen. Stanley McChrystal recently berated the military for being “preoccupied with protection of our own forces.” He...

Who Leaked to Woodward? Good Luck
 Who Leaked 
 to Woodward? 
 Good Luck 
ANALYSIS
Sep 22, 2009 11:50 AM CDT

Who Leaked to Woodward? Good Luck

McChrystal report could help the Pentagon, or the White House, or...

(Newser) - The question du jour in Washington is who leaked Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s report advocating an increased troop presence in Afghanistan to Bob Woodward, Ben Smith writes on Politico. But the outcome of this tried and true “capital parlor game” is far from certain. Some Beltway insiders think the...

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