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Commentary and analysis on military and policy issues, from global strategic to weapons and tactics.
Recent Posts Tagged With 'general mcchrystal'
Rules of Engagement: Letting the Enemy Go Free
More than two years ago I outlined the calamity that British rules of engagement had caused to their campaign in Basra. The security situation began very well at the initiation of Operation Iraqi Freedom, but devolved into one in which the British ...
Battling the Rules of Engagement in Afghanistan
From The Washington Times: KASHK-E-NOKHOWD, Afghanistan | Army Capt. Casey Thoreen wiped the last bit of sleep from his eyes before the sun rose over his isolated combat outpost. His soldiers did the same as they checked and double-checked their weap...
Enlisted Marines on the Rules of Engagement
The Captain’s Journal prides itself on being both well connected with and an advocate for the enlisted man. Based on recent communications with enlisted Marines (of various ranks), a perspective is developing around the current rules of engag...
McChrystal v. Obama
Jules Crittenden notes that General McChrystal’s speech to London’s Institute for Strategic Studies caused a disturbance in the administration, especially because of McChrystal’s categorical rejection of the small footprint counter...
Generals Who Talk Tactics Rather Than Strategy
The inability of the Afghan National Army or the Afghan National Police to independently create the conditions for stability and security in Afghanistan at the present (or anytime in the near future) has been a recurrent theme here at The CaptainR...
McChrystal, Troop Levels and Rules of Engagement
60 Minutes did a report on General Stanley McChrystal in which the main theme was that General McChrystal is trying to deprogram eight years of bad habits in Afghanistan. Killing civilians, running drivers off of the road, and generally being insen...
Here is your Afghan National Army
General McChrystal’s report to Secretary Gates lays the groundwork for a request for 40,000+ more U.S. troops. The actual need for troops will be higher than that. McChrystal’s report relies heavily on Afghan National Security Forces ...
Brief Initial Take on McChrystal’s Report to Gates
There will be much more on McChrystal’s report to Gates in the coming days. But my brief initial take is that there are parts of the assessment that aren’t serious. It says “The ANSF is currently not large enough to cope with th...
More Thoughts on Marines and Rules of Engagement
Briefly following up on Taliban Ambush in Eastern Kunar Kills Four U.S. Marines, we know now that there will be an investigation of this incident reviewing whether the ROE was a contributing cause to four Marines perishing. There have been some blo...
Why are we in the Helmand Province?
In Helmand is a Sideshow – Or Not I addressed the charge that had been leveled in a WSJ article that Helmand was a sideshow to the real fight. Summarizing, the author said: American forces have been waging a major offensive in the neighboring...
Did ROE Lead to Marine Deaths?
Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive is at the same time entertaining, sardonic, witty, and when he wants to be, quite serious. He is an asset to the Milblogging community, certainly more so than I. But occasionally we must disagree, and I’m sure that...
McChrystal Releases Counterinsurgency Guidance and Requests More Troops
General McChrystal recently released counterinsurgency guidance for the ISAF. COMISAF COIN GUIDANCE From the very first executive summary statement, the mission(s) of protecting the people and destroying the enemy are set in juxtaposition with each ...
Update on ROE Changes for Afghanistan
From the BBC: Speaking during a visit to a new US marine base in southern Helmand province, Gen McChrystal said that US and Nato troops must make a “cultural shift” from conventional warfare to protecting Afghan civilians. “Traditio...
Changes to the Rules of Engagement for Afghanistan
From the AP: The U.S. commander in Afghanistan will soon order U.S. and NATO forces to break away from fights with militants hiding among villagers, an official said Monday, announcing one of the strongest measures yet to protect Afghan civilians. Th...
General McChrystal to go on Afghanistan Public Relations Offensive
Gareth Porter has penned a commentary in the Asia Times on several subjects. It’s long and much of it not very worthwhile reading. But it’s necessary to read it entirely in order to understand his mistaken calculus. At his confirmatio...
General McChrystal Maps New Course for Afghan War
From the WSJ: After watching the U.S. try and fail for years to put down insurgencies in both countries, Gen. McChrystal said he believes that to win in Afghanistan, “You’re going to have to convince people, not kill them. “Since 9/...
General McChrystal Revamps SOF Efforts in Afghanistan
We have been a critic of the specific use in which special operations forces have been employed in Afghanistan. Just to rehearse two recent examples, in Lt. Gen. McChrystal Testifies we said: TCJ had also hoped that General McChrystal would attach ...
Lt. Gen. McChrystal Testifies
Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal has recently testified before Congress concerning both his nomination to lead the Afghan campaign and the recent air strikes involving noncombatant casualties. On Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, nominated to be...
