PageLink - Gen Stanley A. McChrystal

Gen Stanley A. McChrystal "known for saying and thinking what other military leaders were afraid to" *one of the reasons cited for his appointment* to lead all forces in Afghanistan AFGHANISTAN post fm:  June 15, 2009 - June 23, 2010 Defence Secretary Robert Gates: "perhaps the finest warrior and leader of men in combat I (have) ever met." Last assignment: Commander, International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) Commander, US Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) Director, Joint Staff fm Aug 2008 - Jun 2009 Commander, Joint Special Operations Command fm 2003 - 2008 *criticized for alleged role in cover-up of the Pat Tillman friendly fire incident. reportedly: unflattering (and unprofessional) remarks about Vice President Joe Biden and other administration officials attributed to McChrystal and his aides in a Rolling Stone article McChrystal recalled to Washington, DC Obama accepted his resignation as commander in Afghanistan ISAF COMMAND - Afghanistan assumed by: deputy commander, British Army General Sir Nicholas "Nick" Parker { pending the confirmation of a replacement } General David Petraeus = McChrystal's replacement ------ serving in the Pentagon as member of the Joint Staff, start of Iraq War in March 2003 {vice director of operations, J-3, since July 2002} McChrystal delivered nationally televised Pentagon briefings on US military operations in Iraq April 2003 shortly after the fall of Baghdad: announced, "I would anticipate that the major combat engagements are over." Commanded the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) for five (5) years Sep 2003 to Feb 2006 Commander, Joint Special Operations Command/ Commander, Joint Special Operations Command Forward, fm Feb 2006 to Aug 2008 Most of assignment in Afghanistan at US Central Command forward headquarters in Qatar & in Iraq {nominally assigned Fort Bragg, Nth Carolina} Success: capture by JSOC forces of Saddam Hussein in December 2003 McChrystal's Zarqawi unit, Task Force 6-26 = well known for interrogation methods, Camp Nama = accused of abusing detainees = taskforce disciplined after Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse scandal became public in April 2004 criticized for his role in aftermath of 2004 death by friendly fire of Ranger and former professional football player Pat Tillman. McChrystal = one of eight officers recommended for discipline by a subsequent Pentagon investigation. = Army declined to take action against him. late spring 2007 JSOC and CIA Special Activities Division teams launch new series of highly effective covert operations that coincided with the Iraq War troop surge of 2007 killing or capturing many of the key al-Qa'ida leaders in Iraq joint efforts of JSOC and CIA paramilitary units said to be: most significant contributor to the defeat of al-Qa'ida in Iraq McChrystal credited with = transforming and modernizing JSOC = into a "force of unprecedented agility & lethality" = key factor success of JSOC in success of war Iraq George W. Bush failed to promote McChrystal assigned 3-star: Dir. Joint Staff, Feb 2008 Senate Armed Services Committee stalled McChystal confirmation more info sought: alleged mistreatment detainees by Special Ops under McChrystal command in IRAQ & AFGHANISTAN AFGHANISTAN June 10, 2009 Senate approval to take command McChrystal was promoted to general assumed command of NATO ops Operation Khanjar commenced largest offensive op and beginning of deadliest combat month for NATO forces since 2001 LEAKED REPORT McChrystal submitted a 66-page report to Defense Secretary Robert Gates calling for more troops in Afghanistan "We are going to win." public: Sept 20, 2009 *warned that the war Afghanistan may be lost if more troops are not sent *30,000 - 40,000 more troops needed in Afghanistan Chief UN Weapons Inspector in Iraq (Scott Ritter) stated McChrystal: should be fired for insubordination for disclosing info he should have said only in private to the President of USA leaked report - aka the "McChrystal risk" boxed Obama into a corner about boosting troop levels in Afghanistan MICHAEL HASTINGS freelance journalist Article: "The Runaway General", Rolling Stone magazine, July 8–22, 2010 issue McChrystal and his staff reportedly mocked: *civilian government officials *Joe Biden *National Security Advisor James L. Jones *US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl W. Eikenberry *Special Representative for Afghanistan & Pakistan Richard Holbrooke McChrystal's staff = contacted prior to release of article and did not deny validity of the article = Hastings: bemused at degree to which soldiers were free when speaking to him = senior members of his staff dispute this = accused Hastings of exaggerating seniority of aides quoted & breaking the "off the record" trust of private conversations McChrystal apology to Joe Biden: "I extend my sincerest apology for this profile." McChyristal called in by Obama = McChrystal tendered his resignation | Obama accepted Obama statement re resignation: "... certainty that it is the right thing for our mission in Afghanistan, for our military and for our country." WHITEHOUSE - 4-STAR RANK WH announced that McChrystal would retain his four-star rank in retirement {law generally requires a four-star officer to hold his rank for three years in order to retain it in retirement} RETIREMENT CEREMONY McChrystal awarded the: Distinguished Service Medal by Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey Defence Distinguished Service Medal by Secretary of Defence Robert Gates PENTAGON INQUIRY Pentagon report = challenged accuracy of article "The Runaway General" (Michael Hastings) = disputing key incidents or comments reported in Hastings' article. Rolling Stone: = "... Pentagon’s inspector general offers no credible source—or indeed, any named source—contradicting the facts as reported in our story, 'The Runaway General." ------- At Yale University faculty, teaching courses in International Relations Chairman of the Board of Siemens Government Systems On the strategic advisory board of Knowledge International a licensed arms dealer whose parent company is EAI a business "very close" to UAE govt co-founded / partner McChrystal Group LLC Alexandria, Virginia-based consulting firm 2011 - advocated instituting a national service program in USA 2013 - endorsed stronger US gun control laws ------- OTHER McChrystal is the son of Major General Herbert Joseph McChrystal, Jr. (1924–2013) Entirely military family / and married into military family McChrystal said to: run 11-13 km daily eat one meal per day sleep four hours a night source https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanley_A._McChrystal ---------------------- ꕤ  ---------------------- COMMENT I know this isn't PC, but ...  Ummmm, I sort of like the sound of McChrystal (on first impressions). Seems strong, tough, and forthright. Sounds like some kind of superman.  Swoon ... lol ꕤ

Iraq Invasion Based on Lies

teleSUR ARTICLE Source Link - teleSUR Opinion Secret Document Shows CIA Reaction to Finding No WMD in Iraq This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english   Secret Document Shows CIA Reaction to Finding No WMD in Iraq The U.S. government invaded Iraq, devastated a society, killed upwards of a million people, wounded, traumatized, and displaced millions more. The National Security Archive has posted several newly available documents Monday, one of them an account by Charles Duelfer of the search he led in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, with a staff of 1,700 and the resources of the U.S. military This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english The U.S. government invaded Iraq, devastated a society, killed upwards of a million people, wounded, traumatized, and displaced millions more. The National Security Archive has posted several newly available documents Monday, one of them an account by Charles Duelfer of the search he led in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, with a staff of 1,700 and the resources of the U.S. military This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english Secret Document Shows CIA Reaction to Finding No WMD in Iraq This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english The U.S. government invaded Iraq, devastated a society, killed upwards of a million people, wounded, traumatized, and displaced millions more. The National Security Archive has posted several newly available documents Monday, one of them an account by Charles Duelfer of the search he led in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, with a staff of 1,700 and the resources of the U.S. military. EXTRACT - FULL AT SOURCE   Source Link - teleSUR The U.S. government invaded Iraq, devastated a society, killed upwards of a million people, wounded, traumatized, and displaced millions more. The National Security Archive has posted several newly available documents Monday, one of them an account by Charles Duelfer of the search he led in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, with a staff of 1,700 and the resources of the U.S. military This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english Secret Document Shows CIA Reaction to Finding No WMD in Iraq This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english Secret Document Shows CIA Reaction to Finding No WMD in Iraq This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english Secret Document Shows CIA Reaction to Finding No WMD in Iraq This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english The U.S. government invaded Iraq, devastated a society, killed upwards of a million people, wounded, traumatized, and displaced millions more. The National Security Archive has posted several newly available documents Monday, one of them an account by Charles Duelfer of the search he led in Iraq for weapons of mass destruction, with a staff of 1,700 and the resources of the U.S. military This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is director of WorldBeyondWar.org and campaign coordinator for RootsAction.org. Swanson's books include War Is A Lie. He is a 2015 Nobel Peace Prize Nominee. This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Secret-Document-Shows-CIA-Reaction-to-Finding-No-WMD-in-Iraq-20150708-0032.html. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english COMMENT Great article. Found out recently that the WMDs were fabricated, but I wasn't aware of how much deceit went into manufacturing an invasion: *Forged Documents *Going against advice of experts *Conning the UN *Embroidering an intelligence estimate, to make out Iraq 'threat' *Lying about peacemaking at a news conference, while attacking Recapping: USA invasion of Iraq, based on lies USA devastated a society USA killed over 1 million USA wounded, traumatised, & displaced millions more USA generated hatred for USA USA drained the US economy USA stripped away US civil liberties USA paved way for Islamic State Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. "From the foot of Saddam Hussein's summer palace a Humvee is seen driving down a road towards the left. Palm trees grow near the road and the ruins of Babylon can be seen in the background." U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 1st Class Arlo K. Abrahamson. - This Image was released by the United States Navy with the ID 030529Source:  Wikipedia Saddam Hussein's summer palace overlooks the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon;  the seat of powerful empires which successively shone and eventually collapsed, many centuries before the rise of modern European powers. Saddam Hussein was hanged in a shabby spectacle by masked men, while masked psychopaths and war criminal front-men of a present-day empire continue to lie, deceive and destroy. All I can think is:  this is what evil looks like. WARNING Graphic Content Copyright Disclaimer under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education and research. Saddam Hussein's Execution  WARNING Graphic Content source:  here

Who is Joe Biden?

JOE BIDEN

Joseph Robinette Biden (Junior)

Vice President of the United States
Democratic Party

US Senator from Delaware 1973-2009
A former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, dealing with issues related to drug policy, crime prevention, and civil liberties:

• Violent Crime Control
• Law Enforcement Act
• Violence Against Women Act

Biden has been heavily involved in Obama's decision-making process.

Biden’s ‘ability to negotiate with Congressional Republicans played a key role in bringing about the bipartisan deals ...

”Biden attended the University of Delaware in Newark, where he was more interested in sports and socializing than in studying, although his classmates were impressed by his cramming abilities.”

.... “Syracuse University College of Law ... receiving a half scholarship based on financial need with some additional assistance based in part upon academics.”

”Biden received five student draft deferments during this period, with the first coming in late 1963 and the last in early 1968 at the peak of the Vietnam War.”

“In April 1968, he was reclassified by the Selective Service System as not available for service due to having had asthma as a teenager.”

“Biden was generally supportive of the war during much of this time and never became part of the anti-Vietnam War movement; he would later say that at the time he was preoccupied with marriage and law school, and that he "wore sports coats ... not tie-dyed".”

”Regarding foreign policy, during his first decade in the Senate, Biden focused on arms control issues.”

Biden ... long-time member and former chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.


BOSNIAN WAR

Lobbied for U.S. military  intervention during the Bosnian War.

”Biden was among the first to call for the "lift and strike" policy of lifting the arms embargo, training Bosnian Muslims and supporting them with NATO air strikes, and investigating war crimes.”

“Both the George H. W. Bush administration and Clinton administration were reluctant to implement the policy, fearing Balkan entanglement.” [AS IF ... LOL]

“Biden wrote an amendment in 1992 to compel the Bush administration to arm the Bosnians...”

“... deferred in 1994 to a somewhat softer stance preferred by the Clinton administration, before signing on the following year to a stronger measure sponsored by Bob Dole and Joe Lieberman.
 
SAY HELLO TO:

1995 NATO bombing campaign in Bosnia and Herzegovina

FOLLOWED BY:  Dayton Agreement.

“Biden has called his role in affecting Balkans policy in the mid-1990s his "proudest moment in public life" that related to foreign policy.”

“In 1999, during the Kosovo War, Biden supported the NATO bombing campaign against Serbia and Montenegro...

“... co-sponsored with his friend John McCain the McCain-Biden Kosovo Resolution, which called on President Clinton to use all necessary force, including ground troops, to confront Milosevic over Serbian actions in Kosovo.”

Biden ...

“NATO enlargement and the successful passage of bills to streamline foreign affairs agencies and punish religious persecution overseas.”

1991 – GULF WAR

Biden had voted against authorization for the Gulf War in 1991...said the U.S. was bearing almost all the burden in the anti-Iraq coalition.

2001 -  AFGHANISTAN WAR

Biden pro 2001 war in Afghanistan, saying:

"Whatever it takes, we should do it."

2002 - IRAQ

“Biden stated in 2002 that Saddam Hussein was a threat to national security, and that there was no option but to eliminate that threat.”

“The Bush administration rejected an effort Biden undertook with Senator Richard Lugar to pass a resolution authorizing military action only after the exhaustion of diplomatic efforts.”

“2002, Biden voted in favor of the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq, justifying the Iraq War.”

“While he soon became a critic of the war and viewed his vote as a "mistake", he did not push to require a U.S. withdrawal.”

“He supported the appropriations to pay for the occupation...”

“... argued repeatedly that the war should be internationalized, that more soldiers were needed, and that the Bush administration should "level with the American people" about the cost and length of the conflict.”

”By late 2006, Biden's stance had shifted, and he opposed the troop surge of 2007, saying General David Petraeus was "dead, flat wrong" in believing the surge could work.”

“Biden was instead a leading advocate for dividing Iraq into a loose federation of three ethnic states.”

“... 2006, Biden and Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, released a comprehensive strategy to end sectarian violence in Iraq.”

“Rather than continuing the present approach or withdrawing, the plan called for "a third way":  federalizing Iraq and giving Kurds, Shiites, and Sunnis "breathing room" in their own regions.“

“2007 ..  a non-binding resolution passed the Senate endorsing such a scheme.

However, the idea was unfamiliar, had no political constituency, and failed to gain traction.”

“Iraq's political leadership united in denouncing the resolution as a de facto partitioning of the country, and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad issued a statement distancing itself.”

LIBYA

'2004 - Biden secured the brief release of Libyan democracy activist and political prisoner Fathi Eljahmi, after meeting with leader Muammar Gaddafi in Tripoli.

2008 -  “Biden sharply criticized President George W. Bush for his speech to Israel's Knesset in which he suggested that some Democrats were acting in the same way some Western leaders did when they appeased Hitler in the runup to World War II.

Biden stated: "This is bullshit. This is malarkey. This is outrageous.

Outrageous for the president of the United States to go to a foreign country, sit in the Knesset ... and make this kind of ridiculous statement."

Biden later apologized for using the expletive. Biden further stated, "Since when does this administration think that if you sit down, you have to eliminate the word 'no' from your vocabulary?" '

[Source:  wikipedia]
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COMMENT



Council on Foreign Relations sounds like the US 'war house'.


Joe Biden sounds like a jock.

And he hasn't personally seen active military service -- or any military service.

But, hey, he's happy to make war -- and is proud of making war on foreign soil.



Some NGO turned charity ought to do a worldwide survey, asking:

Is Joe Biden the most hated man on the planet? 

If he can do deals with Republicans to get things done and if that's why he's so handy, he's got to be slime.

Not sure what the Israel-Knesset stuff even means.


Did notice that former General David Petraeus got a mention.

So Biden reckons he knows more than a general.

Must read the General David Petraeus Rolling Stone interview with Hastings.

Remember not thinking much about it at the time.  Not interested in politics or politics of war at the time.

However, I did feeling sorry for Petraeus ... I thought he let his guard down and it seemed like this 'intimacy' or whatever it was, was perhaps exploited.

The above isn't some statement about war sides or anything; I don't know about that.  It is just my initial impressions back then.

Anyway, no wonder Biden's got his snout stuck in Ukraine.  It's right down his alley.  LOL!