Afghanistan: Make Up Your Mind Gen. McChrystal!

In the famous Peter O’Toole film “Night Of The Generals”, the record-keeper in Paris tells Omar Sharif (acting as German officer investigating murders of prostitutes in Nazi-occupied Warsaw and Paris): “Major, why do you bother…All Generals are murderers!”

That was a film dialogue. In real life Generals are not murderers. They are expected to carry out the commands of their Governments/Presidents/Prime Ministers or civilian authority whether that order is good or evil, sensible or stupid. The commander of U.S. and NATO forces, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, seems to be caught in a deadly crossfire and appears confused. But no one can blame him.

Today’s Associated Press report informs us about 5 US troops killed in southern Afghan attacks, where Taliban militants have conducted “an unrelenting campaign of bombings and attacks against U.S. and NATO forces.” A deadliest year of the (eight-year-old) war, and the Obama administration is debating “whether to add still more troops to the 21,000-strong influx that began pouring into the country over the summer.”

Now please read this carefully. General McChrystal has said in an interview to “60 Minutes” to be broadcast on Sunday that “the strength of the militant group took him by surprise when he arrived this summer. I think that in some areas that the breadth of the violence, the geographic spread of violence, is a little more than I would have gathered.”

Now knowing this, General McChrystal advocates that “military commanders need to be less preoccupied with protecting their troops and send them out into Afghan communities more.” He acknowledged this “could expose military personnel and civilians to greater risk in the near term,” but said the payoff in terms of forging ties with the Afghan people would be worth it.

The AP report reminds us: “Bombs planted in roads, fields and near bases now account for the majority of U.S. and NATO casualties and have proven especially dangerous in the south. With the five deaths, a total of 34 U.S. forces have died in Afghanistan in September. August, which was the deadliest month of the war for American troops, saw 51 deaths.”

To some the General’s stand may appear as a dangerous schizophrenic gibberish to the effect that…”We need to sacrifice American/NATO troops in order to build better relations with the local Afghan population.” But you can’t blame the General. Anyone in his place would mutter things beyond the comprehension of the normal people.

However, the fact is that Gen Stanley McChrystal is only obeying the orders of his Supreme Commander President Barack Obama. Let me digress here to say that one British general has shown some guts. Major-General Andrew Mackay, a senior commander who led British troops in Afghanistan, has resigned after bitter clashes with the Government over the war.

The British General’s views were drawn on by the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee in its report into the Afghan conflict: “We conclude that the UK deployment to Helmand was undermined by unrealistic planning at senior levels, poor co-ordination between Whitehall departments, and crucially, a failure to provide the military with clear direction.” More here…

Meanwhile, according to the confidential report prepared for President Obama — obtained by Bob Woodward of The Washington Post — the situation in Afghanistan is “deteriorating.” The Taliban insurgency is “resilient and growing.” Afghans have a “crisis of confidence” in both their own government and the U.S.-led NATO occupation force.

The next 12 months will be “decisive,” and “failure to gain the initiative and reverse insurgent momentum . . . risks an outcome where defeating the insurgency is no longer possible.” (See here…)

And what is India’s take on this? The Hindustan Times reports: “Even as a top US commander in Afghanistan has sought more forces, India has said there is no military solution to the conflict in that country and NATO combat operations should give way to a political settlement.”

More here…