Since General McCrhystal recently decided to try to force President Obama's hand and influence the war policy in Afghanistan by going public, I thought it would be of interest to the DKos community to know about his role in the torture of Iraqi detainees and the cover up of how Pat Tillman was killed. Please continue after the jump.
In his latest edition of "Fig Tree Notes" (www.figtreenotes.com), Jim Lewis, a liberal Episcopal minister in West Virginia, and ironically an ex-Marine, says he was motivated to comment on Generla McChrystal after reading a newspaper article covering McChrystal's speech before the Institute for International and Strategic Studies in London wherein he claimed:
"we will not win in Afghanistan if President Obama does not give him an additional 40,000 troops to fight there. His comments indicate that a continued appraisal of our mission there will only delay and harm that mission."
McChrystal's behavior reminded Lewis of "General Douglas MacArthur back in the days when he challenged President Truman and was relieved of his command" and furthermore it brought to mind, "like a reincarnation of General Westmoreland who had a voracious appetite for more and more troops back during the Vietnam War."
Lewis goes on to say McChrystal is one of those higher-ups who were responsible for the torture, but who escaped punishment, which was dished out only to the few low ranked, so-called "bad apples," as evidenced by the famous photos. McChrystal was also responsible for the cover up of how Pat Tillman died. Here's what Lewis has to say:
"McChrystal was in charge of Camp Nama in Baghdad—that place where Iraqi prisoners were tortured. McChrystal knew the ugly truth about the torture there, in fact gave orders for torture, and refused to allow the Red Cross to inspect the facility."
and,
"Tillman was killed in Afghanistan near the Pakistan border by what is called "friendly fire," military fire mistakenly aimed at a unit’s own troops. The government covered up the facts surrounding Tillman’s death with a lie. The military said he was killed by the enemy in a firefight. Tillman was called a hero—a good apple—and awarded a Silver Star. When the facts were later revealed, General McChrystal was seen as the person involved in the cover up and in the awarding of the medal."
I apologize for quoting so much of the article, in case I'm violating the rules here, but ask your forgiveness on the grounds I'm not a skilled blogger and the subject matter might be of serious interest to DKos readers. I think this information should get around the blogosphere so here's my bit for the cause. Please read the entire post for yourself where he discusses how Jessica Lynch, Lynndie England and Pat Tillman fit into a bigger theme.
In the meantime, here are some more quotes from Lewis's article:
"Republicans and Democrats have rushed to heap praise on McChrystal. Of interest is the fact that John McCain, who spoke at Tillman’s funeral, later pledged his support to the Tillman family to expose the truth about his death. Since then, according to Tillman’s mother, "He (McCain) definitely eased out of the situation. He didn’t blatantly say he wouldn’t help us, it’s just that it became clear that he kind of drifted away."
Tillman’s father has said: "After it happened, all the people in positions of authority went out of their way to script this. They purposely interfered with the investigation; they covered it up. I think they thought they could control it, and they realized that their recruiting efforts were going to go to hell in a hand basket if the truth about his death got out. They blew up their poster boy."
Empires need designated good apples—boys and girls like Tillman and Lynch. They serve to justify war. Empires also need designated bad apples, like Lynndie England. They serve as scapegoats for war’s atrocities, and provide cover for those who authorize war’s atrocities."
Here's the link to the article: http://www.figtreenotes.com/...
It's really worth a read, IMO.