I'm pissed off that people are calling for the resignation of Gen. McChrystal

[noamnety]

About General McChrystal: "In the wake of horrifying news of unintended civilian casualties, in a war where the US is already intensely unpopular, Obama has picked a leader who can be directly linked to the worst images and incidents of prisoner torture and abuse under Bush."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5667045&mesg_id=5667045


"McChrystal ran Task Force 6-26, which became temporarily famous after the killing of Abu Masab al-Zarqawi, a boogyman figure cultivated by the US military and media complex. What made TF 6-26 infamous was their activity in Camp Nama, Iraq: torture. Massive, systematic, sustained torture, by special operators, under the supervision of Stanley McChrystal, this deceptively soft-spoken officer.

The camp in Baghdad was used almost exclusively for the torture of detainees. The torture went on before, during, and after the scandal at Abu Ghraib. Detainees were killed by their torturers, members of the most elite units in the US armed forces. Almost in celebration of the activity of the camp, placards were hung that said, "No Blood, No Foul," meaning if you don't make them bleed, you can't be charged with the crimes you are committing."

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=132&topic_id=8412623&mesg_id=8412623

------
To clarify: I am not pissed off that people want him gone. I am pissed off that the board is lit up about him NOW, that people want him gone NOW, not because of his history of obscene human rights abuses and torture, but because he criticized the white house.

[mkultra]

1. i happy that he is being let go.

[tekisui]

4. Do you have a link?

[mkultra]

21. no, its an assumption.

[AndyA]

2. You have a good point. That does put things into perspective, doesn't it?

The truth is some of Obama's choices have been pretty awful, McChrystal is just one of them. For a smart man, Obama has made some bad choices since taking office. :shrug:

[newspeak]

8. all of Little Boot's "yes" men should have been let go

Remember when * and rumsfeld let go all of those generals that didn't agree with their little war hard on? I sure as hell remember--Gen. Shinseki was one of them. Most were replaced with "talibornagain" (in my estimation) loons. Obama is working with those who have replaced good, rational, patriotic individuals--* saw that only "loyalists" need apply. Remember when they cleaned house in the CIA, FBI, and the military-because "little boots", who has never seen one bit of military action in his life (nor has five deferment Cheney or Rumsfeld) only wanted "yes" men who wouldn't buck their agenda.

Obama would have been better off re-instating those military leaders who care more about the soldiers and this country, than some "christianizing the ME for corporations" agenda.

[Gaedel]

15. Eisenhower let Maxwell Taylor go

for disagreeing with his "massive retaliation" doctrine.

Taylor went over to JFK with his "flexible response" ideas and flexibly racheted us up from advisers to full participants in Vietnam.

Never hire/rehabilitate a guy with an ax to grind.

[newspeak]

31. my dad was in vietnam during the "advisor years"

but you fail to mention the bogus Tonkin Bay incident that clearly aided in making us full participants.

[Gaedel]

33. I was there during the "full scale" years

Taylor's doctrine had a broad spectrum of responses to various contingencies in which the US had a scale of escalation in response to Soviet third world initiatives up to and including full scale non-nuclear battle.

Gulf of Tonkln may or may not have been manufactured to allow an additional few ratchets up the scale.

Read Halberstam's "The Best and Brightest" sometime. He pretty much shows how Taylor, Dean Rusk, McNamara, the Bundys, and Westmoreland got us more and more stuck on the tar baby.

[glitch]

19. +1,000,000 and counting. nt

[tekisui]

3. You make such a good point. The man is responsible for so much suffering

and death.

[mikelgb]

5. yeah it is VERY telling

given the most vocal

[Hutzpa]

6. .

:yoiks:

[msongs]

7. a military bush removal purge on inauguration day should have happened nt

[noamnety]

9. and some meaningful investigations.

I'm not in favor of making the military partisan ... so a purge probably would have felt as wrong to me under Obama as it felt under Bush. The military leaders (ideally) are there to follow orders, not make policy. However, the ones overseeing torture and other abuses should have been investigated and relieved of duty / courtmartialed, and the civilians right up the chain who gave them those orders should have been on trial as well. I believe the reason that didn't happen was that congress was fully briefed on what was going on and knowingly continued to fund it, making them all accessories to the crimes.

A purge however, is a separate thing from going out of one's way to appoint someone responsible for torture. That never should have happened.

[glitch]

20. Not just military. All of Bush's embeddeds should have been fired, and those that couldn't be should

have been transfered to their own department in some desolate place and given no budget and no important task.

[TheKentuckian]

22. and the people said, Amen

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

10. And don't forget about his lying about Pat Tillman! K&R!

[newspeak]

12. I will never forget Pat Tillman

There have been quite a few people killed from questionable causes over there. Remember the air force young woman who worked in the financial department in Afghanistan who was found shot on the base. Told her family something was fishy and joked about "if they say I committed suicide don't believe them"? First thing that came to my mind was a drug network, just like what happened in Vietnam. Then there was the army ethicist who committed suicide. A lot of shady things have been happening over there. I'd say some of our young women and men probably see the corruption and greed, up close and personal.

[Catherina]

11. Rec'd. That's how it goes around here now

The worst crimes are ok and defended if they have Obama's support or he's in any way linked to them by policy. The minute someone says something less than flattering, then they're under the bus. Policy and principle don't matter to the new democrats, just obeisance to a leader.

Both wars should have been long over and all the abusers of human rights prosecuted.

[BeFree]

17. Exactly

There has not been enough ACT, just a bunch of REACT from this government.

So the McC bubba sticks his head up and makes a juicy target...

Will he be forgiven? Or will his past catch up and make it easier for him to be fired?

I'm sure if you took a DU poll there would be one or two who want more war.

[NNN0LHI]

13. Did you ever support the US invasion and occupation of Afghanistan?

[noamnety]

18. No, I did not. (nt)

[JonLP24]

14. I almost flamed you

Because I was going to bring up the mishandling of the Tillman situation and the humans rights abuses. I actually agree 100% with what you're saying of your last statement. In the other poll I didn't vote because I wanted him gone a long time ago. So because of being critical of the White House is not the reason why I want him gone but I have no problem with adding that to the reasons of why I want him gone. :)

[noamnety]

26. I saw the poll you're talking about and didn't vote for the same reason.

It's very generous of you to refer to his involvement in the Tillman case as "mishandling." I almost included the coverup in my OP. In the end I decided including the coverup of friendly fire incidents trivializes his taking part in war crimes. But the coverup would have been enough for me to oppose his appointment. I disagree with his policy of not telling the truth.

[saltpoint]

16. The interview was kerosene on an already hard-to-control fire.

I hope the president relieves McChrystal of his command.

[Overseas]

23. He wants to get fired and become a GOP martyr. A 24/7 Fox News Hero.

I'd prefer that he resign.

[eShirl]

24. just adding my own tiny(microscopic) shove to the current greater momentum. n/t

[flyarm]

25. Funny.to many here these days ,.he was a good guy as long as he was Obama's guy

the minute this pig and torturer went against the POTUS he is scum..


You could not be more correct OP!!!


Well many of us older folks around here..said this guy should have been let go immediately..we were spurned..we were haters..wtf did we know ...

Well we knew this guy was scum..

We knew he was the man behind the lies about Pat Tillman and probably his murder.

We knew he was Cheney's point man

We knew this bastard was a criminal.

Now ?? Yawn.......day late and a dollar short of my sympathy ..President embarrassed now???????????

To bad..this bastard never ever should have been put in charge of the latrine..let alone our soliders.

And those of us who spoke out about it..were maligned.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

27. +1000!

[katandmoon]

28. I always thought he was a shitty choice. Obama knew he was a snake when he picked him up.

Picking the fucker anyway said nothing good about Obama's intentions. Now the snake has bitten Obama. Boo-hoo.

[RainDog]

29. yeah. too bad democrats never learn that right wingers are going to shit on them

no matter what.

Obama needs to clean house in lots of positions because he is getting shitty advice in many areas.

[noamnety]

30. I figure anyone involved in coverups

is far more likely to be doing it out of self-interest than any sense of higher purpose or loyalty.

It's why I was always shocked when people on the left expressed any sense of trust or respect for Colin Powell.

[bigwillq]

32. Good post.

K and R

[Tailormyst]

34. For some folks politics is a game

McChrystal is now seen as the player who dissed the city and is probably going to go help the other team win now. BEFORE doing so he was just a player who was an asset, no matter how dirty he was below the surface, the fans were willing to over look it.

He's sort of like Manny Ramirez.

But Politics is not a game and real people are effected in real ways, especially in warzones. People forget that. They lose sight of what is real and what is important. The issues and the people matter.

[Solly Mack]

35. Thank you

[Soylent Brice]

36. i'm pissed that i'm too late to rec this.

so here's a kick.

:kick:

[crazyjoe]

37. Why would he get rid of Bush's people, he has maintained

Bush's policies as far as I can tell.

[EFerrari]

38. I know. But if it gets him out of there, I'll take it. n/t