"How lessons in the dark arts of special ops led McChrystal to the
edge
From watching 'Kill TV' to leading undercover night raids, the
two-star general was on a brutal, bleak journey
By Kim Sengupta
Friday, 25 June 2010
General Stanley McChrystal with Nato commanders outside Kunduz,
Afghanistan, last September, during an investigation into civilian
deaths in an allied attack
AP
General Stanley McChrystal with Nato commanders outside Kunduz,
Afghanistan, last September, during an investigation into civilian
deaths in an allied attack
* Photos enlarge
sponsored links:
Ads by Google
HSBC Expat Banking Offshore Accounts with Easy, 24/7Phone & Internet
Access. Apply now Offshore.HSBC.com/Expats<http://Offshore.HSBC.com/Expats>
Forex Trading - GFT New to forex? Try a risk-freepractice account
today. GFTwww.GFTuk.com<http://www.gftuk.com/>
They called it the "Death Star" because according to one source who
worked inside it, "you could just reach out with a finger and
eliminate" somebody. On the walls were banks of television screens,
known by the special forces boys as "Kill TV", where footage from
image-intensifier cameras of the enemy being blown up by air strikes,
or being gunned down by undercover hit teams was shown.
This place was "the Machine", a state-of-the-art military command
centre hidden away in an airbase in Balad, a desolate stretch of
land north of Baghdad. It was created by Major General Stanley
McChrystal, the chief of US Special Forces, the most secretive force
in the American military. Here, in the permanently darkened
communications cockpit, dozens of US and British (SAS) personnel
would gather around as nightly raids took place against al-Qa'ida
and their insurgent allies.
Sometimes McChrystal would lead the raids himself, his squad of
elite undercover combat troops, known as Delta Force, being told
at the last minute that the commander was coming along for the ride.
No one was quite sure what the Pentagon policy was on two star
generals going on such dangerous missions, but then very few people
in the US Department of Defence, and even fewer outside it in
Washington, were even aware of these shadowy operations going on
in Iraq.
Related articles
* Republicans exploit sacking to challenge Afghan strategy * Mary
Dejevsky: The mission remains impossible * Patrick Cockburn: Petraeus
is a master tactician, but his greatest strength is on the political
battlefield * Search the news archive for more stories
This was the secret and violent world which shaped Stanley McChrystal,
who on Wednesday was sacked from his job as commander of Nato forces
in Afghanistan.
The irony, as his colleagues were pointing out yesterday, was that
his spectacular downfall was not due to some illicit military action,
but because of a magazine article his aides had arranged in order
to publicise his most recent high-profile public career.
Nevertheless, the seeds of what was to bring him down may have been
planted at his time running "black ops" [operations], the head of
a close- knit team answerable to very few, where decisions were
made about life and death on a daily basis. The autonomy was not
just military. McChrystal and his men would go into the badlands
at that time most of Iraq to make deals with local tribal leaders,
pay out money, organise allies and informants. There was no question
of practical civilian oversight as no diplomat, American or British,
would venture into these areas.
Thus McChrystal and the group around him, many of whom would follow
him to Kabul, would have little to do with US or British civilian
leaders. Their mistrust of what one of them described to Rolling
Stone magazine as, "the wimps in the White House" was almost
inevitable because of the shadowy nature of their work. When they
did meet the civilians, the men did not have much to say to them,
because so much of what they knew was classified, and thus could
not be imparted.
One American officer recalled for example how much McChrystal
disliked entering the Green Zone, the heavily fortified conurbation
in Baghdad where Western administrative officials were based. "Stan
always looked uncomfortable, he hated all the red tape. I guess,
if anything, he was happier talking to the Iraqis than to most of
our own people from State [the State department]; he wasn't a
networker." The General's preference for cultivating local leaders
rather than Western officials continued in Afghanistan, where the
President, Hamid Karzai, and others would speak of their regret at
his departure.
But friends of McChrystal's say his time in Iraq should be put in
context. It was the most ferocious period in the conflict following
the US-led invasion, with Sunni and Shia militias killing each other
and Iraqi and foreign troops.
Armed criminal gangs were on the rampage, kidnapping and extorting
money from an unprotected population.
McChrystal had been told, goes the lore: "The gates of hell had
been opened and you have got to help to shut them". The US forces,
stuck behind their heavily guarded bases, only able to move around
in heavy armoured convoys, were not the answer: the war would have
to be taken to the insurgents in the streets and fields.
Over cups of coffee at the main US base, Camp Victory, McChrystal
described to fellow officers, like the British Lieutenant Colonel
Richard Williams, then leading an SAS unit in Baghdad, his plans
to carry out relentless rounds of night raids, killing or capturing
insurgents, especially their commanders, and break the cycle of the
militant groups "organically" reproducing themselves.
There were many figures among the coalition forces who questioned
the approach. One senior British officer dismissed the notion that
such "industrial counter-insurgency" could work. But the targeted
attacks began, and along with prisoners came intelligence vital in
the programme of "decapitation" against al-Qa'ida.
General McChrystal was in his element, eating just one meal a day,
sleeping no more than four hours a night, constantly demanding more
information on the militant networks. Among the few "artefacts" in
his spartan accommodation was a prosthetic limb, belonging to a
Sunni sheikh his men had gone to hunt but failed to find. The false
arm had been abandoned during the man's hurried getaway.
However, questions were being asked about how information was being
obtained.
There was an unofficial inquiry into the treatment of detainees at
Balad.
McChrystal was absolved because he was not there when the alleged
abuses had taken place.
But then came information from a captured suspect which vindicated
the commander's approach in the eyes of the US military. Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qa'ida in Iraq, had been blamed for
hundreds of bombings. It is highly unlikely that all of them were
his group's handiwork, but the publicity helped create a myth of a
master terrorist and Washington was demanding he must be stopped.
Intelligence agents working with McChrystal spent weeks winning the
confidence of a suspect captured in the "Sunni Triangle" south of
Baghdad. They eventually got a location where Zarqawi was staying,
enabling the Americans to carry out an attack mortally wounding the
al-Qa'ida leader. The body was brought to Balad. As it was being
taken off the flight, McChrystal appeared, to stand and look at his
enemy "as if trying some kind of silent communion", according to
one of the crew members.
There were other successful operations, with the British SAS taking
part in some of them, like the freeing of the missionary Norman
Kember and Shia sheikhs supplying arms to be used against UK forces
in Basra. Like their American boss, the SAS reported the bare minimum
back to London.
In Afghanistan, McChrystal initiated policies which may have been
an attempt to curb the lethal violence of his past. He brought in
the doctrine of "courageous restraint" to minimise civilian casualties.
He ordered air strikes, which had killed hundreds, to be significantly
reduced in scale.
But he demanded control of the special forces operations, which had
been run by a separate command under his predecessor, General David
McKiernan.
Iraq-style night raids dramatically increased, causing outcry from
human rights groups, which complained that innocent civilians were
often being killed by masked assailants.
It was only in recent days that General McChrystal ordered them to
halt, saying the killings of insurgents could not justify the local
alienation. It was one of his last actions as commander before he
was ordered back to face the wrath of his Commander in Chief."
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/how-lessons-in-the-d...
-of-special-ops-led-mcchrystal-to-the-edge-2009975.htmlhttp://snipurl.com/xvyq0
-- ''''''''.'''''''''
__._,_.___ Reply to
sender<mailto:riaz.ta...@gmail.com?subject=How%20lessons%20in%20the%20dark%20
arts%20of%20special%20ops%20led%20McChrystal%20to%20the%20 %20edge>
| Reply to
group<mailto:toesl...@yahoogroups.com?subject=How%20lessons%20in%20the%20dark
%20arts%20of%20special%20ops%20led%20McChrystal%20to%20the%20
%20edge> | Reply via web
post<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toeslist/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJxbm5hdXJ2BF9TAzk
3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTc3MDcEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDgzNDY5BG1zZ0lkAzIwNTQwBHNlYwNm
dHIEc2xrA3JwbHkEc3RpbWUDMTI3NzQ5MDkxOQ--?act=reply&messageNum=20540>
| Start a New
Topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toeslist/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJlczM2MmljBF9TAz
k3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTc3MDcEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDgzNDY5BHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA250cGM
Ec3RpbWUDMTI3NzQ5MDkxOQ--> Messages in this
topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toeslist/message/20540;_ylc=X3oDMTM2dm1lZ
2MyBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTc3MDcEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDgzNDY5BG1zZ0lkAzIwNT
QwBHNlYwNmdHIEc2xrA3Z0cGMEc3RpbWUDMTI3NzQ5MDkxOQR0cGNJZAMyMDU0MA-->
(1) Recent Activity:
Visit Your
Group<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toeslist;_ylc=X3oDMTJlbTdvODg1BF9TAzk3MzU
5NzE0BGdycElkAzIxNTc3MDcEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDgzNDY5BHNlYwN2dGwEc2xrA3ZnaHAEc3Rp
bWUDMTI3NzQ5MDkxOQ--> MARKETPLACE
Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're
on - Get the Yahoo! Toolbar
now.<http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15om3lslr/M=493064.13983314.14041046.1329843
0/D=groups/S=1705083469:MKP1/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1277498120/L=686dea32-8088-11df-a5e1
-37a193a8e265/B=fx4TDEPDhFU-/J=1277490920038691/K=CoSCkFXc9YsbdZAoXYHQ8w/A=60
60255/R=0/SIG=1194m4keh/*http://us.toolbar.yahoo.com/?.cpdl=grpj>
________________________________
Get great advice about dogs and cats. Visit the Dog & Cat Answers
Center.<http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15ob5q6u0/M=493064.13814537.14041040.1083
5568/D=groups/S=1705083469:MKP1/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1277498120/L=686dea32-8088-11df-a
5e1-37a193a8e265/B=gB4TDEPDhFU-/J=1277490920038691/K=CoSCkFXc9YsbdZAoXYHQ8w/A
=6078812/R=0/SIG=114ae4ln1/*http://dogandcatanswers.yahoo.com/>
________________________________
Hobbies & Activities Zone: Find others who share your passions!
Explore new
interests.<http://us.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15oqmjalk/M=493064.14012770.13963757.1
3298430/D=groups/S=1705083469:MKP1/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1277498120/L=686dea32-8088-11d
f-a5e1-37a193a8e265/B=gR4TDEPDhFU-/J=1277490920038691/K=CoSCkFXc9YsbdZAoXYHQ8
w/A=6015306/R=0/SIG=11vlkvigg/*http://advision.webevents.yahoo.com/hobbiesand
activitieszone/>
[http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/yg/logo/us.gif]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDM
TJkdGRvc3JsBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIxNTc3MDcEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MDgzNDY5BHNlYw
NmdHIEc2xrA2dmcARzdGltZQMxMjc3NDkwOTE5> Switch to:
Text-Only<mailto:toeslist-traditio...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Change%20Delive
ry%20Format:%20Traditional>, Daily
Digest<mailto:toeslist-dig...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Email%20Delivery:%20Dig
est>
Unsubscribe<mailto:toeslist-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe>
Terms of Use<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>
.
__,_._,___
