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To: SmoothSail who wrote (359595)	4/15/2010 12:57:43 PM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793916

They're kicking him out of Afghanistan and he's reacting. He will stay in Afghanistan, but it will be as a civilian with no FORMAL access to the Military. He is ex-SF, and knows the territory, so he should be safe enough. More chance of getting killed with the Military than just blending in. He must have really made McCrystal mad, since the General knows he is in with Petraeus.

To: SmoothSail who wrote (359595)	4/15/2010 1:53:33 PM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793916

I've read Michael Yon for some time, and would trust what he is saying. But I wonder about his statement below....I wonder if it is the SecDef and the President who are making things up as they go, calling the shots one by one, and are misleading McCrystal....???? Is McCrystal really getting the facts from the President? Is the President really afraid of what Yon is saying???? The disembed from McChrytal's top staff (meaning from McChrystal himself) is a very bad sign. Sends chills that McChrystal himself thinks we are losing the war. McChrystal has a history of covering up. This causes concern that McChrystal might be misleading SecDef and President. Are they getting the facts?

To: SmoothSail who wrote (359595)	6/22/2010 1:30:13 AM
From: KLP	2 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793916

Remember Michael Yon in April....Now, first this: McChrystal Apologizes for Magazine Profile FOXNews.com - June 22, 2010 The top U.S. war commander in Afghanistan issued an apology late Monday for a "Rolling Stone" magazine profile in which he said he felt betrayed by the man the White House chose to be his diplomatic partner, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, and comments by aides insulting some of President Barack Obama's closest advisers. The top U.S. war commander in Afghanistan issued an apology late Monday for a "Rolling Stone" magazine profile in which he said he felt betrayed by the man the White House chose to be his diplomatic partner, Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, and comments by aides insulting some of President Barack Obama's closest advisers. An article out this week in the magazine depicts Gen. Stanley McChrystal as a lone wolf on the outs with many important figures in the Obama administration and unable to convince even some of his own soldiers that his strategy can win the war. "I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never have happened," McChrystal said in a statement. "Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honor and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard," he said. "I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team, and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome." A band of McChrystal's profane, irreverent aides were quoted by the magazine mocking Vice President Joe Biden and Richard Holbrooke, the special U.S. representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. McChrystal himself was described by an aide as "disappointed" in his first Oval Office meeting with an unprepared President Barack Obama. The article says that although McChrystal voted for Obama, the two failed to connect from the start. Obama called McChrystal on the carpet last fall for speaking too bluntly about his desire for more troops. "I found that time painful," McChrystal said in the article, on newsstands Friday. "I was selling an unsellable position." Obama agreed to dispatch an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan only after months of study that many in the military found frustrating. And the White House's troop commitment was coupled with a pledge to begin bringing them home in July 2011, in what counterinsurgency strategists advising McChrystal regarded as an arbitrary deadline. The profile, titled "The Runaway General" emerged from several weeks of interviews and travel with McChrystal's tight circle of aides this spring. It includes a list of administration figures said to back McChrystal, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, and puts Biden at the top of a list of those who don't. The article claims McChrystal has seized control of the war "by never taking his eye off the real enemy: The wimps in the White House." Biden initially opposed McChrystal's proposal for additional forces last year. He favored a narrower focus on hunting terrorists. If Eikenberry had the same doubts, McChrystal said he never expressed them until a leaked internal document threw a wild card into the debate over whether to add more troops last November. In the document, Eikenberry said Afghan President Hamid Karzai was not a reliable partner for the counterinsurgency strategy McChrystal was hired to execute. McChrystal said he felt "betrayed" and accused the ambassador of giving himself cover. "Here's one that covers his flank for the history books," McChrystal told the magazine. "Now, if we fail, they can say 'I told you so."' There was no immediate response from Eikenberry. The Associated Press requested comment through an aide after business hours on Monday in Kabul. Eikenberry remains in his post in Kabul, and although both men publicly say they are friends, their rift is on full display. McChrystal and Eikenberry, himself a retired Army general, stood as far apart as the speakers' platform would allow during a White House news conference last month. "Rolling Stone" interviewed troops frustrated by McChrystal's strict rules for combat that are intended to reduce the number of civilian casualties. At one outpost, a soldier McChrystal had met earlier was killed in a house that the local U.S. commander had repeatedly asked to destroy. The request was denied, apparently out of concern that razing the house would anger locals whose allegiance the U.S. is trying to win. "Does that make any (expletive) sense?" Pfc. Jared Pautsch asks. "We should just drop a (expletive) bomb on this place. You sit and ask yourself, 'What are we doing here?"' The Associated Press contributed to this report. foxnews.com

To: SmoothSail who wrote (359595)	6/22/2010 1:44:59 AM
From: KLP	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793916

More to the McCrystal story from: Michael Yon ~~~Lost the Initiative General Stanley McChrystal has fumbled any initiative that we hoped to gain with the surge of troops. The Afghanistan surge clearly is failing. 1) The Kandahar campaign is delayed to at least Fall. This crucial military failure leaves the initiative in enemy hands. ... See More McChrystal Apologies for Incendiary Article www.wired.com By now, you've probably heard about the upcoming Rolling Stone profile of General Stanley McChrystal -- the one where the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says 12 minutes ago • Comment • Like • View Feedback (6)Hide Feedback (6) Naruemol Leakdee likes this. Kenny Hunter 5) Shot self in foot. Next... 6 minutes ago Bowden Russell McChrystal shouldn't apologize for ANYTHING. This must be so demoralizing to the troops. Obama should apologize for interfering with the mission. BLAH!!!! 5 minutes ago Michael Yon REWARD: $100 For the first reader who can identify by name/rank/position this person: twitter.com Apparently this person is close to General Stanley McChrystal. ... See More Taken For Action (takenforaction) on Twitter twitter.com Where snark meets national security. 2 hours ago • Comment • Like • View Feedback (33)Hide Feedback (33) Maneechat Kongphol, Bill White, Florian Andrade and 5 others like this. View all 25 comments Miguel Urrutia Just read the same story on Fox. I dislike Obama a lot, but even he must know that insubordination cannot be tolarated. The general's spoke-thugs are dangerous, and need to be treated like the copperheads they are. The general is losing the war, and knows he cannot suppress the news anymore, so this 'interview' is his chance to shift blame for his failure to Obama and his bunch. 28 minutes ago Daniel ??????? Sheldrake Link not working. 18 minutes ago Michael Yon U.S. Leadership in Afghanistan Cracking Our leadership is incompetent. Top General In Afghan War: US Envoy Betrayed Me - CBS News www.cbsnews.com In Article, Top US General In Afghan War Accuses US Ambassador Of Self-serving Betrayal 4 hours ago • Comment • Like • View Feedback (75)Hide Feedback (75) Adela Garcia, Walter Beach, Thomas Johnson and 20 others like this. View all 52 comments Michael Yon British Forces The British who have served around Sangin have seen combat. Serious combat. Was out there with them in Sangin and the area for about three weeks. God bless the British...they are fighting hard in bad circumstances. Sangin: Afghanistan's poppy town that became deathtrap for British army \| World news \| The Guardian www.guardian.co.uk Area of Helmand province has been scene of nearly a third of the 300 British soldiers' deaths since 2001 5 hours ago • Comment • Like • View Feedback (58)Hide Feedback (58) Thomas Johnson, Omar Syed, Frau Budgie and 32 others like this. View all 23 comments Matt Flavell @Abby-I think the numbers are something like six board members apiece from the UK and USA, and is 40% UK owned and 39% US owned. Hardly 'British', which is why it hasn't been called British Petroleum for over a decade. BP also employ considerably more American workers than British. A couple of things stand out in that article that the author ... See More 2 hours ago Abby Saleh @Mike Rivette....has anyone ever told you what a charming man you are? :~) 2 hours ago Michael Yon Occam's Razor Cuts Deep General Stanley McChrystal's Kandahar campaign has been delayed until Fall. For all intents and purposes, the Taliban has already won the 2010 round of the battle for Kandahar. We have reached a point where it requires a "willing suspension of disbelief" to think that our leadership has this unde... facebook.com