New Afghan Gen. Has Manhunter Reputation

Washington Post: Stanley A. McChrystal Will Bring A Special Forces Style To Afghanistan

(Washingtonpost.com)  This story was written by Ann Scott Tyson.

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Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the former Special Operations chief who is President Obama's new choice to lead the war in Afghanistan, rose to military prominence because of his single-minded success in a narrow but critical mission: manhunting.

As commander of the military's secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) for nearly five years starting in 2003, McChrystal masterminded a campaign to perfect the art of tracking down enemies, and then capturing or killing them. He built a sophisticated network of soldiers and intelligence operatives who proceeded to decapitate the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq and kill its most notorious leader, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. He has also led the hunt for Osama bin Laden and other al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

To succeed in the more expansive and varied Afghanistan mission, military officials and analysts said, McChrystal will have to transcend the perception that he is, at his core, an Army Ranger, an elite practitioner of rapid-fire raids intended to "find, fix, finish" the enemy.

Instead, he will have to embrace the more unwieldy work of building Afghan security forces from disparate tribes, extending governance and cultivating diplomatic skills -- as well as a thirst for endless cups of tea -- that goes along with leading a counterinsurgency campaign.

"McChrystal kills people. Has he ever worked in the counterinsurgency environment? Not really," said Roger Carstens, a senior nonresident fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a former Special Forces officer.

"People will ask, what message are we sending when our high-value-target hunter is sent to lead in Afghanistan?" said a senior military officer at the Pentagon, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

But McChrystal's demonstrated drive and intellect, as well as his abilities in team-building and problem-solving, have won him many admirers. "Without a doubt, Lieutenant General McChrystal is one of the five best generals in the Army today. He is the perfect man for the job and will be Afghanistan's Petraeus, if anyone can be," said an Army general who served in Iraq with him. He too spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly.

McChrystal, a 1976 West Point graduate who regularly runs to and from work, is known for tackling assignments with intensity and exhaustive energy, according to military peers who know him well. As a young commander in the 1980s, he "was big into road marching in the Rangers -- he expanded it exponentially," said one officer. McChrystal served as an operations officer for the JSOC in the Persian Gulf War and was chief of staff for an Army task force during operations to overthrow the Taliban government in Afghanistan.

McChrystal shuns an armchair style of commanding, and even as a three-star general he often joins his men on operations, officers said. As the JSOC commander overseeing Iraq and Afghanistan, for example, McChrystal spent the vast majority of his time overseas, rather than at his Fort Bragg, N.C., headquarters.

Military experts and officers point out that one of McChrystal's most important contributions in Iraq was to reach well beyond military circles to build personal relationships with a wide range of civilian officials -- bringing together expertise in intelligence, forensics, finances and other fields in an interagency task force that strengthened his campaign against the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

In this ad hoc way, McChrystal was able to break through bureaucratic obstacles and eventually create a more enduring organization, filled with experienced officials who repeatedly rotated into Iraq. "McChrystal's strength is in part his Rolodex and how he leverages the interagency," Carstens said.

The Afghanistan campaign -- with its complex military command structure, patchwork of NATO and non-NATO forces, and large international civilian presence -- presents a similar challenge but on a far larger scale, analysts said. "Afghanistan is the toughest team" to build, said a senior military officer.

One of the first steps McChrystal is likely to take is to winnow down the military staff in Afghanistan, analysts and officers said.

As a manager, McChrystal favors flatter, faster organizations and is known for preferring a small staff that is overworked rather than a large one that has time to grow unfocused, according to officers who have worked under him.

Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, tapped McChrystal to become director of the Joint Staff last year. McChrystal's confirmation in that post was delayed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, some members of which voiced concern about his oversight of detention facilities where abuses occurred. The committee also looked into McChrystal's role in the Army's handling of the friendly-fire death of Ranger Cpl. Pat Tillman in Afghanistan.

After McChrystal was confirmed, Mullen gave him the assignment of making the Joint Staff a more responsive organization. McChrystal immediately instituted a regimen of 6 a.m. video teleconferences from around the world. Mullen "is a big fan of McChrystal. He's been positively delighted by his performance," said a Joint Staff official.

One critical task for McChrystal, military officers said, will be to more closely integrate the efforts of the growing number of conventional troops and Special Operations forces in Afghanistan, where 47,000 U.S. and 33,000 non-U.S. troops now serve. That will require balancing the mission of killing and capturing Taliban insurgents with the broader work of protecting the population.

Lt. Gen. Dennis Hejlik, commander of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force, who served with McChrystal in Iraq, said yesterday that McChrystal "understands the value of high-value targets" as well as "having the small unit on the ground" to provide better security for Afghans. McChrystal "really does understand that you're not going to win the war by killing all the enemy," he said, adding, "He did that in Iraq for five years."

Staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.

[mahalapril]

People still don't understand that the Iraq war was not caused by Bush. Everybody including the UN,US ,EU and the democrats supported the war after years of sanctions that Saddm violated all the time and was not working. After 9/11 , Bush was determined
to get rid of all WMDs and nuclear weapons program in the Mid-East. Saddam had already used WMDs on his own people and on Iran. The Israelis bomb Saddam's nuclear facility in 1983, Syria's in 1997 and Libya 's Khadaffi voluntarily gave up his nuclear program to the US after Iraq was invaded. The WMDs search in Iraq was just for inspection in Iraq. Saddam forced the Iraq war by refusing the search. Bush gave a last warning to Saddam to leave Iraq with his 2 sons and Iraq will not be attacked but Saddam refused again. THE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE KILLED IN THE IRAQ WAR WERE NOT INNOCENT IRAQIS. THEY WERE THE THOUSANDS OF MULTINATIONAL ISLAMIC FANATICS WHO WERE DISTRACTED TO IRAQ FROM THE AFGHANISTAN WAR ,Saddam's goons and his brutal republican Army and our US troops in Iraq wiped out thousands of these multinational islamic fanatics from all over the world which previously caused the Russian to lose the war and left. The rests of those small civilians killed in Iraq were caused by the ethnic militia infighting and Al-Qaeda in Iraq which caused the deaths of civilians by indiscriminate suicide and car bombings. If not for the Iraq war our US troops in Afghanistan would have already been overran by all these multinational islamic fanatics including the Talibans and Al-Qaeda. We still remain fighting in Afghanistan . The multinational islamic fanatics from all over the world are now assembling in the safe havens of Pakistan because they have a better chance of survival. Can anybody disprove my idea.

[benighse]

FIND OSAMA BIN LADEN or find another general until this job is done!!!

[erb0087]

"McChrystal, a 1976 West Point graduate who regularly runs to and from work"

He must be pretty smelly when he gets there.

[erb0087]

Have Rush Limbaugh's kidneys failed yet ?

[taryder]

"Manhunter Reputation" goes right along with the SECRECY regarding TORTURE and WAR CRIMES!

Three wars and counting. Obama, who was going to start getting us out of Iraq his first day in office. NOW, he has THREE!! wars going and thinks we should just sweep under the carpet WAR CRIMES/TORTURE set up by the United States DEMOCRATS & REPUBLICANS in office in the name of our good DEMOCRACY!.

You would think 8!! years of this type of thing was enough. It is against EVERY law of humanity and against our constitution. Obama is nothing more than MORE OF THE SAME. For 3500+ killed on 9/11, the United States has tortured and killed thousands upon thousands in these countries, to say the least about the WAR CRIMES.

WHAT????? have we become?????? WHO???? do we think we are????

[wdh3007]

It is possible that Afghanistan will become Obama's Iraq but at what price what is the mission is it to defeat the Taliban and stablize a country who has nuclear weapons. Or is it to find catch or kill a man who is most likely either dead or in Iran being protected.

[nojoy01]

"McChrystal kills people."

Seems like a reasonable way to deal with the problem.

[tincup356]

When is enough failure enough? Eight years and they are still lost as hogans goat. If we are trying to catch Osama Bin Laden ,,,then why has he never been charged with anything in connection with 911? I have never been convinced he did it. The government said he did it so everyone followed suit,,,with NO concrete evidence,,,just the word of the White House,,,that same white House who lied about everything else during their administration.....those same people that told us Bin Laden did it,,,,,had ties to defense contractors and made BILLIONS because of the wars,,,,Bush had ties through the Carlyle group and Cheney through KBR......Th e point is we have wasted enough money and lives...we cannot afford to keep up this imaginary witch hunt,,,,,,,Bin Laden is not the threat to our country,,,the threat comes from within,,,,from the corrupt relationship between congress and corporate America,,,,,,,we are being robbed and congress is betraying the people by doing it,,,,The government is wasting 10 billion a month on the lie wars, while people in this country lose everything ,,,,,,congress is busy rebuilding Iraq while major bridges on Americas interstates fall into rivers...... where has common sense gone in America,,,what are the priorities of congress,,,,,the people or the great lobby dollar? All Americans had better start asking themselves ..." Are these two crook parties what is best for America?.....I don't think so,,,they do not care about human life,,,they worship the lobby dollar only.

[chermoe]

To Joe-NY-5: You must not have read the article carefully. This guy is apparently another holdover from the Bush regime .... having been with the Joint Special Operations Command since 2003. This means that the "manhunter" wasn't able to find Bin Laden since 2003. So he isn't someone "dreamed up" by President Obama. And, by the way, Bush couldn't "find" Bin Laden because he wasn't their priority. Why would he go after Bin Laden when he was in bed financially with the whole Bin Laden family, and also had dealings with Bin Laden in the past. His real target was Saddam Hussein. In fact, I'd put money on it that Bin Laden is probably safely hidden and protected by the good old U.S. Within 5 minutes of the towers coming down on 9/11, every newscaster around the world was pinning it on Bin Laden, but after 8 years, they still can't find the guy. Sounds to me like the official story stinks to high Heaven. Funny thing, that we just don't see those Bin Laden videos appearing on TV every couple months any more. I guess that's cause this White House doesn't need a prop to keep Americans in a constant state of fear to achieve an agenda.

[bobnjersey]

["People will ask, what message are we sending when our high-value-target hunter is sent to lead in Afghanistan?" said a senior military officer at the Pentagon, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. ]

find a deeper and darker cave?

[didserve]

Go after Bin Laden or get out!

[roach9703]

Obama hit a home run with this new General! Vice President. Biden, in discussing Afghanistan strategy awhile back, made the point that the primary goal in Afghanistan was to destroy AL QAEDA and its allies. This is EXACTLY what this general will do.

[WayAround]

...and will he catch Bin Ladin? LMAO

However, the media will continue to report Bin Ladin's death at irregular intervals, and at some point in the future, when a majority of the public believes one of these reports, Bin Ladin's death will become a historical fact (whether or not he's dead).

[zeitmin77]

General McChrystal might be a great soldier.But instead of swallowing the tsunami of media hype about him,let us wait for about three months to see if he could make a difference in Afghanistan.

[dwilson59]

And the former White House sent troops to die in an illegal unjustified invasion based on a pack of lies.
Posted by daffy64

*crickets*
Posted by itsjustathought at 10:30 AM : May 13, 2009

Get over it lets focus on getting this done

[dwilson59]

I say we bring back napalm carpet bombing and the draft. If you get drafted for every terrorist you kill you get an extra $1,000 in your check that month. It will be over in one year

[ibsteve2u]

I sincerely hope that Lt. Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal lets our troops go weapons free. Those with a military background will know what I mean.
Posted by Hermit1948 at 10:03 AM : May 13, 2009

It means walking around unarmed.

(lolllll...hey, if the right doesn't always tell the truth, why should I? Ya should have said "declares all of Afghanistan and Pakistan a free-fire zone, anyway.))

[ibsteve2u]

Sweet; good pick for the job. Because that is what fighting an insurgency is: Manhunting.

[FauxNews]

Guess we will be seeing more top Al-Qaeda officials being killed, of course, only to be replaced by more top Al-Qaeda officials.

[dakotaclark]

Hmmm?

People need to remember that we, the U.S. and allies, are fighting the wars with OUR rules, not the rules of the enemies.

If you play their basketball game, but do not use their rules, more than likely you will lose, no matter how many great players you have.

If the other team does not want to abide by the rules of The Geneva Conventions, then neither should we. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geneva_Conventions

If the enemy does not believe in a level playing field, neither should we. If they favor torture and beheading, then we should return the favor, X10.

This is war, not the senior prom. We have very talented players, who ought to be playing the game by using the enemy?s rules. Maybe Lt. General McChrystal will change that.