Chris Floyd
"One can only assume that the regular editors of the New York Times were all out at a party, or left early for a weekend in the Hamptons, or something -- but somehow, the paper published a front webpage story that stated -- without the usual thousand excuses and extenuations -- that American troops are routinely slaughtering Afghan civilians at checkpoints. What's more, the story unequivocally ties the civilian killings to the "surge" ordered by the noble Nobel Peace laureate, Barack Obama."
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TGIA, did you read the actual statement by McChrystal?
ReplyDelete"<span>American and NATO troops firing from passing convoys and military checkpoints have killed 30 Afghans and wounded 80 others since last summer, but in no instance did the victims prove to be a danger to troops, according to military officials in Kabul.</span>"
<span>“We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has ever proven to be a threat,” said Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal . . . during a recent videoconference to answer questions from troops in the field about civilian casualties.</span>
To summarize, McChrystal commands 46 countries in ISAF in theory; but in practice his control is more limited. McChrystal does not control the Afghan Army or Afghan Police.
As recently as February, 2010, McChrystal did not control the US Marines and US Special Forces in Afghanistan. Imagine McChrystal's actual control over country troops.
McChrystal is publicly pleading with the International forces to abide by his guidelines. This is also an implicit hint to the Afghan Army and Afghan Police to abide by their own guidelines.
The total number of Afghans killed by ISAF forces (46 countries) over the last 9 months in the incidents described is 30 dead and 80 wounded according to TGIA's source.
Again, <span>30 dead and 80 wounded over 9 months</span> according to TGIA's source.
However, notice the disclaimer, by the 46 country International Assistance Force (ISAF) only; not including the Afghan forces. The Afghan Army and Afghan Police have killed many more. My suspicion is that a large part of McChrystal's public statements are aimed at changing Afghan Army and Afghan police behavior.