Jun 27, 2010 8 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Washington Times: As much as I dearly respect this great warrior, the good Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal forgot one of the fundamentals of leader- ship: The pace of the pack is set by the lead dog. One has to seriously question the otherwise brilliant Gen. McChrystal's judgment to allow an antiwar, biased reporter from Rolling Stone magazine ...
Continue ReadingJun 27, 2010 7 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Washington Post: Since 2001, a dozen commanders have cycled through the top jobs in Iraq, Afghanistan and the U.S. Central Command, which oversees both wars. Three of those commanders -- including the recently dismissed Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal -- have been fired or resigned under pressure. History has judged many others harshly, and only two, Gen. David ...
Continue ReadingJun 25, 2010 3 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
New York Times: WASHINGTON — Stymied by political opposition and focused on competing priorities, the Obama administration has sidelined efforts to close the Guantánamo prison, making it unlikely that President Obama will fulfill his promise to close it before his term ends in 2013. When the White House acknowledged last year that it would miss Mr. Obama’s ...
Continue ReadingJun 25, 2010 1 Comment ›› Pat Dollard
Politico: As President Barack Obama reaffirms his Afghanistan policy, he’s also emboldening critics in Congress who think he should use a shake-up in commanding generals to change the course of what they believe is an intractable war. “I think he has to reassess the strategy,†Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) said Thursday. “I can’t believe for a ...
Continue ReadingJun 25, 2010 No Comments ›› Pat Dollard
The Telegraph: Royal Marines are being moved to Sangin in Afghanistan amid a battle for the town from Taliban snipers and insurgents trying to shoot down helicopters, the new US commander of British troops has said. Major General Richard Mills of the US Marine Corps, said the “significance of this summer is not lost on the insurgents†...
Continue ReadingJun 25, 2010 10 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Update: Drudge took our headline. Cool! Telegraph: Gen David Petraeus, the new US commander in Afghanistan, is to review the controversial doctrine of "courageous restraint", according to Pentagon sources. He is to re-examine the rules which some soldiers believe have prevented them from defending themselves. "There will be no change in overall policy but all aspects of tactics and ...
Continue ReadingJun 25, 2010 6 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
The Independent: The revolving door spectacle at the top of America's military brass may have been executed with swift efficiency by Barack Obama but the fallout may just be beginning as Republicans prepare again to challenge his plans to begin a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan next year. Fresh and possibly unfriendly scrutiny of President Obama's war strategy ...
Continue ReadingJun 25, 2010 2 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
New York Times: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan is exploiting the troubled United States military effort in Afghanistan to drive home a political settlement with Afghanistan that would give Pakistan important influence there but is likely to undermine United States interests, Pakistani and American officials said. The dismissal of Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal will almost certainly embolden the ...
Continue ReadingJun 24, 2010 8 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Politico: Gen. David Petraeus will be given the “flexibility†to submit recommendations on the Afghanistan strategy once he arrives there, but he is on board with the overall approach, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said today. “The president has established the strategy, but from my perspective, Gen. Petraeus will have the flexibility to look at the campaign plan ...
Continue ReadingJun 24, 2010 1 Comment ›› Pat Dollard
Press TV is a 24-hour English language global news network owned by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). Its headquarters are located in Tehran, Iran, with worldwide bureaus in Beirut (Lebanon), Damascus (Syria), London (UK), Seoul (South Korea), and Washington, D.C. (USA). Press TV: Kabul circles say the dismissal of US commander was over leaking information ...
Continue ReadingJun 23, 2010 3 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
The Hill: House Republicans who backed the nomination of Gen. David Petraeus to be the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said the move doesn’t change their opposition to the Democrats’ war and domestic spending bill. House GOP leaders lauded the popular general on Wednesday after President Barack Obama tapped him as the replacement to Gen. Stanley McChrystal ...
Continue ReadingJun 23, 2010 16 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
NY Times: KABUL, Afghanistan — In late 2008, shortly after he had helped pull Iraq back from the brink of catastrophe, Gen. David H. Petraeus prepared to turn to that other American war. “I’ve always said that Afghanistan would be the tougher fight,†General Petraeus said at the time. Now the burden falls to him, at perhaps the ...
Continue ReadingJun 23, 2010 2 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Washington Post: President Obama dismissed Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal on Wednesday after concluding that his military chief in Afghanistan had badly damaged the chain of command and could no longer work effectively with the civilian leadership at a crucial moment in the war. White House officials said Obama's decision, made over a tense 40 hours, pitted his ...
Continue ReadingJun 23, 2010 4 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan officials said Wednesday that firing Gen. Stanley McChrystal would disrupt progress in the war and could jeopardize a pivotal security operation under way in Taliban strongholds in the south. At the end of a one-hour video conference Tuesday night with President Barack Obama, Afghan President Hamid Karzai expressed his confidence in ...
Continue ReadingJun 23, 2010 No Comments ›› Erik Wong
Politico: President Barack Obama may end up firing Gen. Stanley McChrystal — but he’s stuck with the strategy McChrystal helped put in place and is trying to execute. The Afghan commander, who offered to resign Tuesday after his aides trashed, among others, the “wimps†in the White House, shaped what may end up being Obama’s most important ...
Continue ReadingJun 23, 2010 4 Comments ›› Erik Wong
The Wall Street Journal: The future of the top U.S. commander and strategist of the Afghan war was cast into doubt after he had to apologize and was called to Washington to explain comments by him and his aides disparaging President Barack Obama, his national security team, and U.S. allies. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, 55, faced a barrage ...
Continue ReadingJun 17, 2010 26 Comments ›› Pat Dollard
Fox News: A nationwide alert has been issued for 17 members of the Afghan military who have gone AWOL from a Texas Air Force base where foreign military officers who are training to become pilots are taught English, FoxNews.com has learned. The Afghan officers and enlisted men have security badges that give them access to ...
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