General McChrystal has little to say about the episode that led to the article in Rolling Stone. He writes that the comments attributed to his team were “unacceptable” but adds that he was surprised by the tone of the article, which he had expected would show the camaraderie among the American, British, French and Afghan officers.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
McChrystal Book Arrives
Michael Gordon, former Judy Miller co-author on some of her bogus Iraq WMD pieces, just posted at NYT preview of "long-awaited" memoir by disgraced former Afghan war commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal. Even Gordon can't make it sound like anything but a snore (perhaps not enough in book on Gordon's favorite topic, the Iranian threat). The general talks about his conflicts with the Obama team but not in harsh way. No idea if it even mentions his "Pat Tillman problem."
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This past Memorial Day, I spoke with Mary Tillman (Pat’s mother) and she said seeing Gen. Stanley McChrystal in the news was “like rubbing salt in a wound.” Unfortunately, this old general just won’t fade away. His forthcoming memoir, “My Share of the Task,” promises to “frankly explore the major episodes and controversies of his eventful career.”
However, despite McChrystal’s much vaunted “candor,” it appears his memoir whitewashes or ignores the controversies of his career. For example, he simply repeats his lecture circuit BS that there was no cover-up of Pat Tillman’s 2004 friendly-fire death, merely “well-intentioned mistakes.” And, although McChrystal doesn’t even mention “Rolling Stone” reporter Michael Hastings by name, he doesn’t address Hastings’ 2012 book “The Operators” which details “Le’Affair Rolling Stan.”
Just after McChrystal was supposedly cleared by the Pentagon’s NYT reporter Thom Shanker of “all wrongdoing” in the “Rolling Stone” case, President Obama appointed him to head up the “Joining Forces” program to support military veterans and their families. In response, Mary Tillman said, “It’s a slap in the face to appoint this man” … “He deliberately helped cover up Pat’s death”… someone who has a heartfelt desire to help families would not have been involved in the cover-up of a soldier’s death…”
McChrystal has said, “The one thing you can never, and should never want to dodge, is responsibility.” But, it appears that he has “dodged” taking responsibility for
his central role in the Tillman cover-up, the use of torture by JSOC forces under his command, how he helped “box in” President Obama into his strategically flawed Afghan War “surge,” and for “Le’Affair Rolling Stan” (and I’m curious to see how well his story of the capture of Saddam Hussein and the killing of Abu Zarqawi matches my own research into the “back story” of those manhunts).
In the past, I used to have a grudging respect for McChrystal when he simply refused to comment about the Pat Tillman story. But, if McChrystal won’t confess the truth, I feel he ought to take the advice of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who offered up a barbed assessment of how the White House had “spun” the Bin Laden raid: “I have a new communications approach to recommend … Shut the --- up.”
For more detailed documentation, see the post, "Never Shall I Fail My Comrades" -- The Dark Legacy of Gen. Stanley McChrystal: His Betrayal of Pat Tillman, His Command of JSOC Torture, and His Failed Afghan War Surge” at the Feral Firefighter blog or scribd.com.
Despite Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s much vaunted “candor,” it appears his memoir “My Share of the Task” whitewashes or ignores the controversies of his career. For example, McChrystal simply repeats his lecture circuit BS that there was no cover-up of Pat Tillman’s 2004 friendly-fire death, merely “well-intentioned mistakes.” And, it appears that McChrystal has also dodged taking responsibility for the routine use of torture by JSOC forces under his command, how he helped “box in” President Obama into his strategically flawed Afghan War “surge,” and for his getting fired for “Le’Affair Rolling Stan” (I’m curious to see how his story of the capture of Saddam Hussein and the killing of Abu Zarqawi matches my own research into the “back story” of those manhunts).
If you're interested in more details, see the post, "Never Shall I Fail My Comrades": The Dark Legacy of Gen. Stanley McChrystal: His Betrayal of Pat Tillman, His Command of JSOC Torture, and His Failed Afghan War Surge” at the Feral Firefighter blog or at scribd.com.
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